Family is Part Two: Family You Choose
by Phoebe Darling
Summary: Everything seems to go wrong for Renee, Horatio Caine's half sister. First her and James are car jacked. Then she is drugged. Her reunion goes sideways, causing Renee to develop PTSD. She then gets real sick. Will it ever work out for her? Will she ever be safe from even herself?
1. Chapter: A Brother's Guilt

Early in the new year, Renee is at respiratory therapy. Horatio needed to leave her so he could pick up Piper from school on time. Renee's appointment was two hours long. As the end of her therapy session draws near, Horatio pulls up to his house. Knowing the traffic would be bad, Horatio calls James to ask if he would go pick up Renee. James was closer than Horatio was to the therapist.

James was more than willing to pick Renee up. Horatio did have both Charlie and Echo with him. Renee had left her canines with her brother while she was at the appointment.

James was going to take Renee to Horatio's house. The four of them had a family game night planned. It was her brother's turn to host the night since Renee and James had done the last time.

James and Renee were driving his red F-150 pickup down Flagler. That was the location of a large paintball and gun range.

As they approach the intersection of Mayfield and Flagler, a black Mazda Miata blows past them and the stoplight. The vehicle spun out, slamming into the fence of McGraw's Paintball and Gun Range. James told Renee to stay there while he went to check if the driver was injured.

James walks up to the driver's side door. Renee's head was down as she was checking her phone for missed calls. Hearing a loud bang, Renee immediately recognizes what it was. Looking up, Renee sees James lying face down on the ground. A person was standing over him, pointing a gun at James's head.

Without thinking, Renee was out of the car and running to James's aid. When the shooter heard Renee's door close, he looked up. The shooter locked eyes with Renee before she stops. Renee needed to assess the situation before she did anything stupid.

The shooter had a small Glock leveled at Renee's chest.

"Stop, or I'll shoot him dead," The shooter yells at a surprised Renee as he points the gun back at James's head.

She freezes before she tells him something she hoped would get him to leave.

Looking at James's body as he lets out a quiet moan.

"The keys are inside, and the engine is on. Take the truck, just let me help him," Renee calmly tells the shooter as she points to James.

Without another word, the shooter squeezes the trigger twice. One of the bullets hit Renee. The shooter then gets into James's truck and takes off. Leaving the MDPD officer on her back as her blood begins to pool around her.

The shooter had managed to pull off a carjacking of an off-duty MDPD officer. James's truck had a very distinctive engine noise that made it very distinguishable from other trucks. It was about time that James and Rene should be getting home.

As soon as Horatio hears the sound of James's truck coming down his street, he goes outside to greet the two of them. But, when James's truck tears by without stopping, Horatio had a bad feeling.

Before he could process what happened, Echo comes crashing through Horatio's living room window. The dog tore down the street running in the opposite direction as the truck. Horatio knew that something horrible had happened. Horatio quickly calls Piper's cell phone. He needed to tell the teenager to stay put. He has to go after Echo on foot.

Meanwhile, five blocks away, Renee regains consciousness. She knew that she had to get to James. Renee managed to muster enough strength to drag herself to his side. She left long bloody drag marks all the way to James's body. Renee dragged herself thirty yards. Drawing near him, Renee rolls James over to be lying face-up on the cement.

Using some of the last of her strength Renee takes off her jacket. She needed to put pressure on James's gunshot wound. She had to stop the bleeding.

Renee had used all her energy to pull herself to James and turn him over. As she puts pressure on his injury, Renee loses consciousness falling on top of James. She did manage to stop his bleeding with the weight of her body. There were no houses nearby, and no one was coming as far as she knew.

How was she to know that Horatio was getting close as he ran after Echo? The canine had heard the shots fired and knew that Renee was in trouble.

Her partner was quick to arrive at Renee's side. From Horatio's position, he could see the canine was sniffing around a pile of something in the middle of the road. Horatio could hear Echo whining and whimpering as she licked something. As he himself drew near, he realized that the dog was smelling and licking Renee's face.

Rushing to the canine, the severity of the situation dawned on Horatio.  
Pulling out his phone, he needed to make the one call no cop ever wants to make.

"911 Emergency. What's your emergency?"

"This is Lieutenant Horatio Caine. I have a 10 00 at Flagler and Mayfield. Officer down, I repeat officer down."

With the call done, Horatio tends to both his sister and James. He can hear the ambulance approaching. Gently he pulls Renee off of James and turns her over, so she was lying on her back. Horatio himself took off his jacket. He put all his weight on her chest to staunch the bleeding of his sister. He could see that his sister had slowed James's bleeding drastically.

"Nae... James... Stay with me... Please just stay with me..." Horatio pleas with his sister and his friend.

Clearly, Renee was the one who had attempted to stop James's bleeding. Renee was also the more seriously injured of the two of them.

James had been hit in the shoulder but had lost a lot of blood. He quickly lost consciousness. Renee, however, had been shot in the chest. Her level of blood loss was much greater than James. She had lost a quarter of her blood by this time.

When the ambulance had loaded up Renee and James, there was not enough room on it for Horatio.

He also needed to wait for his team to get there to process the scene. He wanted to get the person who had shot his sister and her friend.

When Eric and Ryan pull up, Horatio takes them to the crashed vehicle. Eric quickly noticed that the back seat had a lot of blood on it. Pointing that out to his boss, Eric also tells Horatio that he and Ryan had the scene.

"H, we got the scene. Go to the hospital. See your sister and James. They need you," Eric tells his boss.

Before he left, Horatio unlocked the trunk of the crashed car. Opening it up, he let out a gasp. What was inside the trunk made it quite clear why the shooter was so intent on fleeing. Inside the trunk were the bodies of two women. The women had clearly been shot at close range.

"This guy just messed with the wrong person. Their suspect had murdered these two women. He is in serious trouble. We will get him on a laundry list of charges: two counts of murder, two counts of carjacking, and two counts of at least attempted murder. We will get him," Ryan tells his boss.

"Let's get an APB out on James's red truck. H, do you know his license plate by chance so we can get the APB out," Eric asks his boss before he leaves for the hospital.

"Yes, Florida custom plates, Union Siera Mike Charlie sniper. It's a red F-150 with a suped-up engine," Horatio tells the officer on the scene.  
Horatio quickly left his two co-workers to get to the hospital. He needed to be there for his sister and their friend. First, he had to get a ride home. He needed to get Piper and get to the hospital.

With Echo by his side, Horatio races inside his house. Quickly emerging with Piper, Charlie, and Echo at his heels.

Jumping into his Hummer, they race to the hospital. By this time, the hospital staff had stopped even noticing the canines since they always seem to be there. Pets aren't allowed inside, but Echo and Charlie aren't pets. They are working dogs.

Waiting in the waiting room was the only thing that Horatio and Piper could do. There was nothing that could be done until someone comes out to talk to them.

After an hour, a doctor comes out to talk to Horatio about his sister.

"You are AB negative, right? We seem to be out of AB negative blood. James is A positive, and we have plenty of that type. We are, however, out of AB negative. Renee needs a transfusion now."

"Where do I go to donate?" Horatio asks the doctor before he can even ask Horatio if he will donate.

"The nurse will take you back," the doctor says as he motions to a nurse for help.

"What about Piper, I can't leave her. Her father is the other one who was shot." Horatio implores the nurse.

"I'll have an orderly stay with her," the nurse motions for an orderly to come and sit with Piper, so she was not alone.

The canines just lay down at Piper's feet. With Horatio in the back donating his blood, Piper looks Echo over. The canine had jumped through a window shattering it. The teenager wanted to make sure the police canine was uninjured.

Upon closer inspection, Piper realized that the dog was bleeding for several deep lacerations to her head and abdomen.

"Oh My God, Echo, you're bleeding," Piper exclaims as she jumps up.

"My dog is bleeding. Can you guys help? She is an MDPD police canine," Piper pleas with the orderly.

Looking from the dog to the girl, and back, the orderly calls a nurse over.

"This police officer got hurt in that carjacking," the orderly tells the nurse while they are both looking at the canine.

"Over here, we can't treat her technically. I can send Nurse Baker over. She was a vet and can suture the cuts and wrap them in gauze. Will that work for you," She asks Piper. This nurse had taken pity on Piper, seeing the fear and tears in the teenager's eyes.

Without taking her eyes off Echo, Piper nods as she struggles to hold back the tears.

Nurse Baker quickly sutures the canine. Echo was tougher than any other canine that the nurse ever worked with. She only used local anesthesia on the laceration. Nurse Baker didn't have access to the full-body anesthesia and mask needed to knock out the canine. Echo never moved or even whined.

Echo was tended to while Charlie stayed with the orderly in the waiting room. With Echo's injuries tended to Piper, and Echo quickly return to Charlie in the waiting room. The three of them didn't need to wait long for Horatio to come back from donating his blood. This was the second time that he had given his sister some of his blood.

Not very long after Horatio had emerged, Alexx walks out into the waiting room. Locking eyes with Horatio, she motions for them to follow.

Alexx brought them into a private room do give them a report as to what had happened.

"James was shot in the right shoulder. He lost a lot of blood, but the bullet had missed all of his vital organs, arteries, and veins. James is in stable condition. Renee, however, had been shot in the chest. The bullet nicked her inferior vena cava, causing her to lose nearly half of her blood. She is currently in critical condition. I will take you back to see them. I had them put in the same room," Alexx finishes talking to her friend and Piper.

Walking into the room, Horatio and Piper were surprised to see James sitting up in bed. You could visibly see the relief hit young Piper.

"Daddy, you're awake," she exclaimed as she jumps on the bed and cuddles with her dad. Echo had seen Piper jump on the bed and followed suit.

"Sweetheart, What happened? Where's Nae?" James asks his daughter.

Without saying a word, Horatio pulls the curtain back, revealing an unconscious Renee in the bed next to James. She looked like she was dead.

"Oh God, What happened to her Horatio," James asks his friend.

"You were carjacked and shot. Nae gave him the truck and got shot anyway. Apparently, Nae dragged herself to you. Turned you over, taking off her jacket, she had attempted to stop your bleeding. She was more seriously injured than you, but you were her priority."

"You were shot in the shoulder, but Nae had been shot in the chest. The bullet had nicked one of the veins leaving her heart, causing her to lose almost half of her blood," Horatio finishes telling James what happened.

James was released from the hospital the next day, Renee however still had not regained consciousness. For several days it was James, Piper, Horatio, and the canines in the room. Ryan, who had been partnered with the puppy, Patriot, had volunteered to watch Piper's puppy Indie. Horatio, James, and Piper were just watching Renee sleep and hoping that she would wake up.

With James sitting in a chair on Renee's left side, Horatio took Piper and the canines down to the cafeteria for some lunch. James just held Renee's hand and kissed it. He talked quietly to her. James never left Renee's side. He had Horatio bring him his meals.

"Come on... Sweetheart... come on, open your eyes. Come back to me, baby. Come on... sweetie. I love you," He pleas. James leaned forward towards Renee's face. James gently wipes Renee's red-hair out of her eyes. Lovingly he caresses her cheek. To his surprise, Renee leans into his hand. She was responding to his touch.

"Come on... Sweetheart... come on. You can do it... come on... open your eyes, baby. Wake up, baby... come on... wake up," James begs Renee. He can clearly see her struggling to wake up.

Slowly Renee opens her eyes. Her icy blue eyes meet James's baby blue eyes. Renee manages a weak smile at James.

"Welcome back, Sweetheart. You have to remember that you have a family who needs you. Your life is just as important as mine. Baby, you mean the world to Piper and I. We really almost lost you. Your injury was much worse than mine," James explains what happened to Renee.

Blinking, Renee responds to what James had told her before she had opened her eyes.

"I love you too," Renee tells James quietly.

"You heard that?" James asks sheepishly.

"yes, I heard what you were saying. Where is everyone else?" Renee asks James weakly.

"Horatio took Piper and the dogs down to lunch. Echo jumped through Horatio's window and brought him to where we were. That is the fourth time one of your canines saved my life," James answer Renee's question.

At about that time, Horatio, Piper, and the dogs come back from lunch.

"You're awake, Sweetie," Horatio says to an exhausted Renee.

Renee managed a weak smile at her brother.

"Yea! You're awake, Nae," Piper exclaims to Renee.

"I know, I know. I have to stop doing this to myself. In my defense, I didn't do it this time. We were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Did you find James's truck," Renee whispers to her brother.

"Yes, we found it burning in the everglades. The carjacker escaped. The car he slammed into the fence was carjacked earlier in the night. That time the occupants of the car were shot point-blank. We found them stuffed in the trunk of the car that had slammed into Tobias's property.

"What's wrong, H? I know something is bothering you," Renee asks her brother.

Horatio couldn't look Renee and James in the eye.

"It's my fault. If I had picked you up, we would have taken the other way home. We wouldn't have driven past McGraw's Paintball and Gun Range," Renee could barely hear her brother's confession; he was talking so quiet.

"H, if you had picked me up, then James would have still been there. He would have been alone. We both know he would have died. It's okay, H. James is fine. I'm fine. Please stop beating yourself up. It was NOT your fault," Renee almost yelling at her brother by now.

"Your right. It's just you are my little sister. I am supposed to keep you safe. You don't exactly make that easy, Sweetheart," Horatio whispers to his sister.

It doesn't take long for James to be cleared for combat duty. Again he leaves Piper with Renee when he goes back to Afghanistan. While he was gone, Renee's insomnia had gotten worse. He had already been gone for two months, and Renee had stopped sleeping at all. This led to her immune system getting compromised. She never even got the cold before. She ended up catching the flu. Renee was tough, living with it for quite a while before she eventually called in sick and sent Piper to stay with friends.


	2. Chapter: Their Day in Court

With James away on a tour of duty, Renee and Piper are all each other has. The county District Attorney called the pair to let them know that the court date for both of their cases was fast approaching.  
"Don't worry, Sweetie. I'll be with you the whole time if you want Charlie can come too. She is a licensed trauma therapy dog. I can even ask if Horatio is going to be there. He will probably be there since he was the lead forensics investigator for your case," Renee tells a nervous Piper.  
"Can Charlie come? That will give me comfort. Do you think Horatio will be there too? I have a lot of support," Piper reply's to Renee's offer.  
Renee knew that Piper really wanted her daddy there with her. Renee also knew that Piper would be fine if Charlie was there for her to lean on. The dog adored Piper and visa versa.  
Renee then calls her brother to ask him if he was going to be at the courthouse for either of their cases.  
"Hey, H, The DA just called us and told us the day our cases will be heard. We were both wondering if you will be at the courthouse on that day. We would both really like it if you were there," Renee tells her brother.  
"Sweetheart, I will be testifying during both of your cases. I was the first officer on the scene. I'm more than happy to stay with you both after my testimonies are done," Horatio reassures his sister.  
When the day comes, Renee, Piper, Charlie, and Echo all load up in Renee's truck. Renee was true to her word. Charlie was allowed up on the witness stand. The dog did bring Piper both courage and peace.  
"Are you okay to tell us your testimony, or do you need your dog with you," the DA asked a shy Piper.  
"I'll be fine, if Charlie can come up here," Piper pleads with the DA and judge to let her friend's dog on the witness stand with her.  
"Of course, Sweetie. Is there anything special about this dog in particular. "She's a retired Marine, and she is a trauma therapy dog now," Piper quietly answers the judge's question.  
"Charlie, come here," Piper tells the former Marine canine when Renee drops the dog's leash.  
Charlie runs up to Piper. The dog laid her head on the teen's lap. The canine didn't move during Piper's whole testimony.  
"Can you please tell the court what happened to you on March 5th of last year," The DA asked a clearly nervous Piper.  
With Charlie's head on her lap, Piper recounted her testimony.  
"My friend Max and I were meeting some of my other friends at McGraw's Paintball and Gun range. The owner gave me a key and permission to go anytime that I want. My daddy had saved his life back in Afghanistan. Well, I was setting up my sniper's perch. My friends and I had planned a paintball war. I climbed up to my favorite spot. It's on top of four stacked cargo containers. Someone knocks me down. They turn me over to face them."  
'They have a Sig Sauer pointed at me. We fight over the gun. They shoot me. I'm on my stomach bleeding. The shooter walks around me, talking to himself. They push me off the containers with their foot. I fall thirty-eight feet to the ground below. The next thing I know I'm waking up in the hospital," The teenager finished her testimony.  
"Did a police officer show you a photo line up? Were you able to ID your shooter?" The DA asks a follow-up question.  
"Yes, Officer Caine showed me a photo array, and I was able to point my shooter out," Piper responds.  
"Can you point to your shooter in this courtroom?" The DA finally asks the teen.  
"Yes," Piper then points to Timothy McGraw.  
"No further questions," the DA says to the judge.  
"Does the defendant's lawyer want to ask the witness any question," The judge asks the public defender.  
"Yes, one question. How come you were not able to ID the defendant until you saw the photo array. If he is your best friend's brother, you should have recognized him immediately."  
"The last time that I saw Timothy was years before. He was in high school and was never home. Lukas and I are in middle school."  
The defendant's lawyer could not argue with that since it did make sense. He also didn't want to be seen as bullying the witness. Piper did come off as a sympathetic witness.  
The next witness was Horatio. When what he says backs Piper's testimony, her case was adjourned until tomorrow.  
It was Renee's case up next. Renee was strong, but she wanted Echo on the stand with her for support. The judge allowed it since he knows that the connection between handler and dog is strong.  
Renee walks up to the witness stand with Echo by her side. The DA never said anything about the canine. Renee was in her Marine Dress Uniform, so she looked fairly tough.  
"Can you tell the court what happened to you the night of March 21st of last year," Was what the DA asks the US Marine.  
"I had just put my canine partners into my panic room and locked it for the night. I hear sounds coming from down the hall. I take out my Sig. As I entered into the living room, I announce that I'm MDPD, when someone grabs me from behind."  
"I back up really fast and ram them into the wall. They let go. I spin around and shoot, but I miss him. Someone else tries to grab me. There are at least two of them that were trying to grab me. Again I fire my gun. We continue to fight and shoot."  
"I reload and shoot some more. I eventually shoot one of them in the chest, killing him. I also hit the other one in the shoulder. I am out of ammo, but I stand my ground. Feeling pain in my side, I pass out."  
"I come to in a warehouse. I am tied up over water. I feel pain then nothing. I passed out again. I come to they keep asking me where my canine partners were. I would rather die than give them up. They start to beat me. They wanted the dogs, but I wouldn't tell."  
"They lose their patience and just about beat me to death. Anyone else would have died. I'm just to damn stubborn to die. I was able to ID my attackers at my house. I was also able to ID one or two of my attackers at the warehouse. I can point to several in this courthouse."  
With that opening, the DA asks Renee to point to her attackers. Renee points to David Kolcheck and says, "He was the leader of the group. The others just did what he told them to do."  
Renee and Echo walk off the witness stand and back to Piper and Charlie.  
Horatio didn't have a lot to add to Renee's testimony since he had just found Renee barely alive hanging in the warehouse. He did have some to add to the rest of the case. He had been the one who had arrested the Serbian Mercenaries when they had attempted to buy the dogs off an undercover police officer. The DA did have the undercover officer testify about what happened at the empty lot.  
With the weight of all the evidence, one of the Mercenaries ended up flipping on the rest. The one who flipped was the one that Horatio would have the least problem accepting a plea deal.  
Charles Canaan had already offered to turn on the rest. He didn't want to do anything that would hurt Renee. The evidence against him was minimal in the first place. His DNA was on the rope that she was tied with. That was the only evidence of his involvement in the assault.  
Sitting in the courtroom, Renee saw Charles. Seeing him caused her to have a flashback. Her flashback caused Renee to approach the DA and talk to her.  
"When I saw one of the accused, I had a flashback. He left the room. He was the only one who begged the rest to stop.  
"Stop, guys, she's not going to talk. If you guys are going to keep questioning her, I'm going to have to go. I will not be a part of outright torture and murder," I remember hearing him say that. The next time I come too, he was not in the room. He was only there when they gave me Sodium Pentathol trying to make me give up my dog's location. When the boss said to try electrocution on me, Charles left. He would not do it. Please, I beg of you accept his plea deal and show him mercy," Renee pleads with the DA.  
With one of the accused turning on the rest, the case became a slam dunk.  
Horatio's team had found Renee's DNA in the leader's watchband. A bullet casing from her house, and her blood was found in the tread of his boots. When Renee pointed Kolcheck out as the leader, it was the final nail in his coffin.  
Piper had heard Renee plead for mercy on one of her attackers. After Renee left, the DA Piper approached her to ask that Timothy not be charged as an adult. She wanted the court to show the teenager mercy.  
"I know Timothy did it. I do, however, want him to be charged as a juvenile. He is troubled and needs help, but spending eighteen to twenty-five years behind bars will not help him. Please just sentence him to the age of twenty-one years. That would be four-years, not eighteen years," Renee overhears Piper's pleas to the DA.  
Hearing the child's pleas, the DA asks for recess. The judge grants a ten-minute recess.  
Approaching Timothy's lawyer, the DA asks to see them in another room. They have a new plea offer at the request of the victim.  
"The victim asks that we not try your client as an adult. Therefore, I will offer you a one-time plea deal. If we walk out of this room, the plea deal goes with us. We are willing to offer your client four years, but he needs to go through anger management therapy and psychiatric help. He would be released when he turns twenty-one, given that he goes through with the therapy and the psychiatric treatment. If the victim had not pleaded for mercy for your client, he would be looking at eighteen to twenty-five years for attempted murder. According to the doctor, it should be twenty-five to life for murder one."  
The DA only gave the defendant's lawyer and client five minutes to decide. It was not a surprise that the client took the deal. The police had his DNA found under Piper's nails. The cops also had a signed confession, and her blood had been found in the tread of his boots. Timothy really didn't want to risk the sentence since he was so much larger than Piper, and she was a very sympathetic victim.  
The plea deal closed Piper's case, Renee still needed to go to trial.  
Renee's trial went on for another week. When both sides rested their case, it was now up to the twelve jurors.  
The DA told Renee that the longer they deliberate, the higher the probability of a hung jury. When the jury only deliberate for a few hours, Renee knew it was going to be ruled in her favor.  
Sure enough, the judge reads the verdict after he is handed it by the bailiff.  
"We the jury find the defendant's guilty on all charges. On the charge of kidnapping, we find them guilty. On the charge of torture, we find them guilty. On the charge of aggravated attempted murder of a police officer, we find them guilty."  
With them all found guilty, it was now down to the sentencing of the attackers, which would happen next week. Again the DA wanted Renee to be there to give a victim impact statement. The DA also wanted anyone that had been affected by Renee's assault. That includes Horatio since the victim is his little sister. What Renee says could have a great impact on the sentencing.  
Her attackers are facing twenty to forty years for the aggravated attempted murder alone. If you add the other charges, it adds up fast. Kidnapping could be thirty years plus five years for torture. Renee knows that the DA is asking that the sentenced be served consecutively and not concurrently. David Kolcheck and the other Serbian Mercenaries are looking at fifty-five years if the DA gets what they want.  
By this time, the stress of the case had put a strain on Renee's body. This lead to her immune system being compromised. With a compromised immune system, Renee caught the flu.  
She still needed to give her victim impact statement, so Renee does what Renee does best. She ignores her symptoms and acts like nothing is wrong.  
"The attack has led my left lung, which had collapsed during the assault to become permanently compromised. It has collapsed eight times since the attack. I can no longer be a cop or a Marine. I can barely leave the house from PTSD. I'm only here because my brother is here and my canines are here. If not for Horatio, Charlie, and Echo, I wouldn't be able to function. My friend's daughter helps too." There was nothing else that Renee could add. She knows that she was exaggerating the impact her assault has had on her, but she also knows that if her brother and her canines weren't there for her, the victim impact statement would be accurate.  
The jury deliberated for less time than before. Renee, Horatio, and Piper were all very nervous about hearing the sentencing.  
"We the jury want the guilty party to serve the maximum sentence. We hereby sentence them to twenty years for aggravated attempted murder. Plus thirty years for kidnapping, and five years for torture. They will serve a sentence no less than fifty-five years in a Federal Prison. As the sentences will be served consecutively."  
This was the best outcome that they could have asked for. The one party that flipped was sentenced only to the five years for torture. He was not involved in the kidnapping plot nor the attempted aggravated murder. Renee was glad that the court had shown the man mercy since he did try to stop her assault but was shut down by the others.  
By this time, her flu was getting worse by the day. She had managed to hide it for a long time. Eventually, she called in sick and sent Piper and her puppy Indy to stay with friends. That was the first time Renee called in sick in twenty years.


	3. Chapter: Medical Emergancy

Throughout her life, Renee has always had a strong immune system. Rarely did she ever get sick. She never got the flu or even a cold. When James was called away for a top-secret sniper mission, Renee actually caught the flu.  
Renee being Renee, she toughed it out longer than most people. No one was even aware that she was sick in the first place, let alone the severity of the sickness.  
James had already been gone for two months, and she was not able to sleep her normal 2-4 hours a night. Her sleep deprivation led her immune system to get compromised. She had never had the flu before, so she was not aware of her sensitivity to cold medications.  
With Piper over to her best friend's house, Renee took the day off. She took a dose of NyQuil Cold.  
James had gotten home early and was planning on surprising Renee at her house. James and Piper had more or less moved into Renee's house by this time.  
Walking into Renee's house, it was eerily quiet. At this time, James hears the sound of a dog running upstairs. Charlie comes running down.  
Desperate to get James's attention, the canine gently grabs his wrist, pulling him to the stairs. It was obvious to the Marine sniper that the Marine canine wanted him to follow her.  
Following the dog, James has a bad feeling about what he is going to find. Walking into Renee's bedroom, James sees the form of someone in bed.  
"Nae... Nae... Sweetie... Are you okay?" James waits for a response.  
Seeing no movement in the bed, James starts to panic.  
Raising his voice, he tries again to get Renee to respond. The only sound in the room was the whimpering of two police canines. Charlie and Echo were both whining and trying to wake Renee up.  
"Nae... Nae... Sweetheart... Baby, please say something? Do something."  
He still gets no response from Renee. James quickly ran up to the side of the bed. He finds her both unconscious and unresponsive.  
James is unsure of what happened to her and why she is not waking up. He glances over at Renee's bedside table to see if there is any sign as to what happened to her.  
He quickly notices a bottle of NyQuil and a tablespoon. He also found a half-full bottle of water. The only thing that he could think of as to what happened was that she accidentally overdosed on NyQuil. He knew that he needed to call the paramedics.  
"911 emergency. What's your emergency?"  
"My name is James O'Shea. I got to my friend's house and found her unresponsive on her bed. I think that she accidentally overdosed on NyQuil since there is an open bottle of it on her bedside table. She doesn't drink or do drugs. That is the only thing that could have happened to her. She is an MDPD canine officer. Her canine partners are here too, but that should not be a problem."  
"Does she have a pulse?"  
"Yes, but barely. She is not conscious and is unresponsive. Please hurry."  
"Don't worry, sir. An ambulance is en route."  
There was nothing more James can do. Waiting for the paramedics, James continues to try to wake Renee up.  
On the other side of town, Horatio could swear that the last address from dispatch sounded familiar. It took a few minutes for it to dawn on him why it was so familiar to him.  
The address of the last emergency call was his sister's house. Horatio was confused. The dispatcher said it was a possible overdose. There was one problem with that. His sister didn't do  
drugs. He still knew that he needed to get to her house as fast as possible.  
Using his police siren, it only takes him five minutes to get to his sister's house.  
He pulls up to his sister's house after the ambulance had gotten there. Horatio is greeted by a very anxious Echo. Renee's currant police canine greeted him with a quiet whimper.  
"Easy girl... Where is your mom? Where is James?" Horatio casually asks the canine while he searches the house. As he gets to the stairs, he sees James and Charlie standing at the top of the stairs.  
"James, what's going on? Where is Nae?" Horatio asks their friend.  
Before James can answer the question, the paramedics push him to the side so that the gurney can get past.  
When Horatio looks at the gurney, his fears are realized. There on the gurney was his baby sister.  
"Nae... Nae... Sweetie," Horatio gets no reaction from his sister.  
He looked up to see James, who can clearly see the fear in Horatio's eyes.  
"I got home early. I found her unconscious and unresponsive in bed. I found a partially empty bottle of NyQuil Severe Cold and Flu on her bedside table. The only thing that I can think of as to what happened is that Nae accidentally overdosed on NyQuil. I have known her for nearly twenty years, and Nae has never even had a cold. I really don't think that Nae knew the appropriate dose of the medication." James answered the question that Horatio never had the chance to ask.  
Horatio knew that James was going to go with Renee to the hospital. The two friends ran beside the gurney all the way to the ambulance.  
Closing the bus door, Horatio quickly gathers both Charlie and Echo. He knew that his sister would want to see her partners when she woke up.  
Before he left his sister's house, he grabbed the half-full bottle of NyQuil from her nightstand and a nearly empty bottle of water. He wanted to test it to see if it had been tampered with in any way.  
Horatio and the dogs arrived at the hospital shortly after James and Renee had.  
Echo ran ahead of Horatio. The canine ran into the waiting room and right into James's arms. Echo knew James was there the moment that Horatio had pulled into the hospital's parking lot.  
"Any news, James?' Horatio asks their friend.  
"No, nothing new. On the way here, Nae began to seize on the bus. The Paramedics gave her a dose of Phenobarbital to stop her seizure. It worked, and she stopped seizing right before we got here."  
"I'm scared Horatio, we might really lose her this time," James confesses his fear to Horatio.  
Hearing the news and seeing the real fear in James's eyes, Horatio ran to find Alexx. He needs to ask a favor. He needs her to rush the analysis of both the bottle of NyQuil and the bottle of water.  
Finding his friend, he makes his plea.  
"Alexx, can I ask you something."  
Alexx immediately responded to the question.  
"Baby, you can ask me anything. You know that, right?"  
"I found these at Renee's house. Can you please rush the analysis of them? I don't have time to go to the lab, test them, and get back here."  
"Of course, I'll find you when I get the results," Alexx answers her friend.  
Horatio turned and ran to find James. Horatio didn't want to leave James nor Renee. He knew what James was going through. He was in that exact place a year before. It was the one year anniversary of Renee's assault not too long ago. A year ago, Horatio was sitting in the waiting room, not knowing if his sister would live.  
Horatio found James in the waiting room with Echo and Charlie. The canines were doing their best to keep him calm and not demanding to get into the trauma room.  
Horatio came back right in the nick of time. He ran around the corner to see James getting ready to rush the trauma room door.  
"No, James. The doctors are doing the best that they can. They can not help Nae if they are dealing with you. She needs you to stay calm and let them do their job."  
"I'm okay. I won't do anything foolish," James says as he pulls free from Horatio.  
It takes the doctors an hour to stabilize Renee at the hospital. When she is stable, Alexx comes out to take Horatio, James, and the canines back to Renee's private room.  
"We got her stable. Now we can only wait and address her symptoms as they come. There is nothing else we can do."  
The doctors had intubated her since Renee had seized in the ambulance. However, they removed her intubation after the was stabilized at the hospital.  
Walking into his sister's room, Horatio flashed back to her first attack when he first found out that she was his baby sister.  
Coming back to reality, Horatio notices that James had already pulled up a chair and had taken hold if Renee's left hand. He was holding her hand tight.  
A few hours after they were brought back into Renee's room, there was a quiet knock on the door. Looking up, Horatio recognized Alexx was the one who knocked. Alexx quietly motioned to Horatio that she wanted to talk to him. To which, Horatio got up off of his seat and approached his old friend.  
"We got the results of the analyses. It was no surprise that she popped positive for NyQuil. The level of NyQuil was not high enough for her to overdose on. What was surprising was that she also popped for Ketamine. It was the NyQuil that was spiked with the elephant tranquilizer. There was no way that Renee knew it was drugged since we found a tiny needle hole in the lid of the bottle."  
"The combination of drugs can have major side effects. NyQuil overdoses alone can cause nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, sweating, stomach ache, extreme tiredness, agitation, confusion, flushing, hallucinations, or seizures."  
"Plus the Ketamine side effects can be; chest pain, dangerous changes in blood pressure, heart rate, agitation, confusion, detached feelings, dizziness, drowsiness, flashbacks, hallucinations, lethargy, loss of coordination, numbness, sedation, coma, delirium, elevated body temperature, panic, violent behavior, exaggerated strength, and aggression, muscle rigidity, respiratory depression, and even death from overdose.  
There is no telling which ones she will exhibit and how bad they will be. She can have violent hallucinations and flashbacks.  
She can become very dangerous and aggressive."  
"We might want to put her in restraints to be safe," Alexx confronts Horatio about what can happen to his sister.  
"I can't do that, Alexx. If she gets aggressive, we will deal with that then and only then," Horatio tells his friend.  
He tells Alexx that as he looks back to see his sister sleeping peacefully in her bed.  
With Renee in a coma, Horatio wanted to find out where Renee had gotten the bottle of NyQuil. He needed to find that out to figure out of Renee was targeted, or was it a random attack.  
Horatio had Ryan run Renee's credit cards to find out where she had purchased it, what Ryan came back with was surprising. Renee had bought the drug at the hospital's pharmacy.  
He needed to ask Alexx where they got their drugs from and when the next delivery would be. Horatio also needed the names of anyone who would have had access to the drugs at the hospital.  
"Hey, Alexx. Ryan found out that Renee bought the NyQuil here at the hospital. I need the names of anyone who would have access to the medicine. We need to find a link between Renee and whoever tainted the bottle," Horatio tells his friend.  
Alexx got Horatio the surveillance footage of the security camera of the pharmacy.  
Watching the footage proved to be pointless since no one touched the bottle between when it was placed on the shelf and when Renee picked it up. This was a dead end. The medication must have been tainted before it had arrived at the hospital pharmacy.  
"That was a waste of time. I need to get back to Renee and James. I have been gone too long," Horatio tells Alexx as he walks to the door to the security office.  
Horatio got back to Renee's room. He finds his sister still in a coma.  
"Good, you're back. I need to go home and check on Piper. Will you stay here while I'm gone?" James asks Horatio.  
"Of course, go check in with Piper. I'll stay. Here take Charlie. I know how much Charlie loves Piper and visa versa," Horatio answers James's question.  
Without another word, James leaves with Charlie. This left Horatio alone with Echo and an unconscious Renee.  
Getting to his house, James had a sudden thought. After he checked in with his daughter, he wanted to look in the garage. The thought occurred to him to watch some of his wedding videos. While he was rummaging deep into the box of his wedding things, James found an old video cassette that had not been transferred to video.  
Upon closer inspection, James recognized the writing on the label. It was Renee's beautiful script, handwriting. He had never seen this video before.  
Putting the film into a VCR, James was curious as to what it would be about.  
Within seconds Renee's face took up the screen.  
"If you are watching this, it means that something has gone terribly wrong. I'll guess that the person who is watching this will be James. Remember, I was the one who introduced you to McKinzie. I knew her better than anyone. Trust me when I tell you that she wouldn't have traded her life for anything. She loves you with every fiber of her being. That being said, Mac would never want you to give up on love. She would want you to be happy. If you find someone who makes you happy in ways that you forgot were possible, Mac would be more than happy for you."  
"If this is you, Mac, I am so sorry. James was the most amazing person I have ever met. He and I went through Marine boot camp together. If you hadn't snagged him, I would have tried. He is an amazing catch. I have to let you know that he did what he did to make sure that you had a safe world. Given the choice again, he would do the same thing. He was a true hero. I love him about as much as you do. I say it in the present tense since we will never stop loving him."  
The video ends, leaving James moved to the point of tears. He never thought how much he really loved Renee until now. Thinking about it, she made him happy in ways that only McKinzie ever could. James knew that Renee was right about everything.  
Putting the videos back in the box, James got ready to head back to the hospital. He put a coat on and pushed the box back onto the shelf.  
Touching the side of the box, James felt something odd. Pulling the box back out, he turns it around to see what he had felt.  
On the side of the box, James can clearly see a tiny envelope taped to the side. He immediately knew what it was. It was a safety deposit box key envelope to the local Navy Bank. He pulls the key out along with a small note.  
"James, you will know when it is time to open this box," James reads in Renee's beautiful handwriting.  
He doesn't know how she did it, but somehow Renee had managed to get this envelope onto the box. That is not important right now. James knew it was time to look inside the box. He knew that Renee would have put his name down at the local Navy bank. James knew he had to hurry down to the bank before it closed.  
Quickly James jumps into his new red F-150 pick up and races down to the bank. He was right, Renee had put James's name down as authorized personnel to access the box in case of emergencies.  
Quietly James is led to a back room. With trepidation, James opens the box. He didn't know what he would find inside.  
On the top of the box's content was a tiny antique derringer single-shot pistol. Below that was a stack of papers. Some of the papers dated back nearly twenty years. Renee has been involved in James's life since the beginning. Based on the papers, Renee was the one who had gotten James and McKinzie their homes in both New Orleans then Miami.  
Renee was the one who got not only Piper but her friends whose fathers were on the SEALS team that saved her, into a private school in Miami. Renee had been paying for Piper, Sarah Rossi, Max Mason, Maize Monroe, Lukas McGraw, and William Lewis's way into a very expensive private school. Renee has been paying their tuition this whole time.  
James was shocked by this new information. He was told that the kids all got scholarships to attend the Christian school. James was shocked but not that surprised. That was just Renee's way. Renee felt that she owed the SEAL team for saving her, but she would never want them to know she was the one who was paying.  
"For an act to remain a true act of charity, the act MUST remain anonymous," Renee would always tell James. This was more proof of just how much Renee loved James and Piper. It was also more proof to James just how much he loved Renee.  
He knew what he needed to do, but to be honest, he was terrified. He had to ask Horatio first. Before he went back to the hospital, he swung by Renee's house. He needed to get something. That errand only took a few minutes. James had been gone long enough from Renee's side.  
While James was away, Horatio sits down on the chair adjacent to his sister's bed. He gently takes hold of Renee's left hand in his left hand.  
He must have fallen asleep. Renee opened her eyes, making eye contact with her brother. Looking at his sister, he knew something was not right.  
Before he could process what was wrong, Renee had lunged at him. In an instant, Renee had Horatio by the throat pinned against the wall. By grabbing her brother, Renee pulled out her IV. She was squeezing her brother's throat. Renee was much smaller than her brother, but that didn't stop her. She had almost superhuman strength.  
Renee had her brother on his knees, begging for air. All the action had gotten Echo's attention. The police canine was very confused, to say the least. She was trained to keep Renee safe. Echo didn't know what to do with Renee being the aggressor.  
It was at this moment that James and Charlie had gotten back from checking on Piper.  
Standing in the doorway, James hears what Renee was screaming.  
"I'll kill you before I let you get near the barracks," Renee was screaming that with a blood-curdling scream.  
Immediately, James knew where Renee was in her hallucination. She was back in Afghanistan on her fourth tour of duty. When she had attacked a suicide bomber at the base, he also knew what he needed to say and do to get Renee out of it.  
James grabbed Renee in a bear hug. Holding her close, he whispered something in Renee's ear.  
"Renee, It's me, James. I got this. Charlie needs you. She is behind me. Go, I got this. He will not hurt anyone," is what he tells Renee.  
What he told Renee had the desired reaction. Renee released the death grip she had on Horatio's throat. She left her brother desperately gasping for air and coughing.  
As Renee walks behind James to go to Charlie, she collapses again. Both James and Horatio hear the sound of Renee hitting the ground.  
Getting to Renee's side, James checks her for a pulse. He was able to breathe a sigh of relief that she did have a pulse. Renee's pulse, however, was dangerously high. James was not able to get a heart rate; it was beating too fast. Without saying a word, he presses the nurse call button.  
The nurses all rush into Renee's hospital room.  
"She had a hallucination. She collapsed after it. Her heart is beating way too fast," is what James tells Renee's attending nurse.  
Within an hour, Alexx had heard about what had happened to Renee. Alexx doesn't say anything to James just motions to Horatio that they needed to talk.  
"I told you that this might happen. I hope that you will agree to put Renee in restraints. That could have ended up different if James hadn't got back when he did. She could have killed you."  
Horatio doesn't say anything. He just nods his head in agreement. He knew that Alexx was right. It could have gone wrong on so many levels.  
Renee doesn't open her eyes again for a few days. While she was in the coma, James and Horatio had some time to talk.  
"If you told me a year ago that I would feel this way about anyone, I would have told you that you were out of your God damn mind. If you told me a year ago that I would gladly trade places with this woman, I would have told you that you were crazy," James tells Horatio.  
"I know what you mean. If someone told me a year ago that I had a half-sister who is one tough cookie, I would have told you that you are totally nuts," Horatio responds to what James had told him.  
Nodding in agreement, James goes on talking about Renee.  
"She is an amazing woman. She just needs to slow down," James finishes what he was trying to tell Horatio.  
"Renee is a survivor if I have ever seen one. But I do agree with you. She needs to take it easy, or she will end up killing herself. Not intentionally, but she will kill herself nonetheless," Horatio responds to what James had told him.  
Renee had two men who would do anything to help her if she would just ask for help. She was too stubborn to ask for any help from anyone.  
She was in a coma for two weeks. When she finally wakes up, James and Horatio are beyond thrilled to see her awake. James had fallen asleep, holding her left hand in his left hand. He was resting the right side of his head on her bed. Renee lovingly strokes his left cheek.  
James was very startled, to say the least. Letting out a slight gasp, it causes Horatio to wake up. Horatio had fallen asleep with his head on the right side of Renee's bed. Renee had no idea what happened and where she was.  
The first thing that she said was a question to the room.  
"Where am I? What happened?" Renee asks the room.  
Looking down at her wrists than to her ankles, Renee needed to ask a question that she really didn't want to hear the answer too.  
"Who did I attack? The last time I was in restraints, I had stabbed you, H. I also held a nurse at knifepoint," She asks her brother.  
"Sweetheart, your NyQuil had been laced with Ketamine. You had a hallucination. You did attack your brother, but you thought that you were back in Afghanistan fighting that suicide bomber outside the barracks," James answers for Horatio. He knew that Horatio didn't want to tell his sister that she had almost killed him.  
While Horatio was out talking to her doctor, James and Renee talked candidly.  
"I have a confession to make, Nae. When Horatio told me that one of us needed to stay at your house to keep an eye on you, I jumped at the opportunity. I was starting to have feelings for you. I now know it goes deeper than that. Not only do I love you, but I can't live without you. I can't lose you, Nae. Piper can't lose you. Please, you need to take it easy. Your body can't take any more of this abuse. It can't take any more of this stress," James finishes his confession.  
"I had a feeling that was what happened. I love you too. I can't live without you either. You know that I would do anything for either you or Piper. I can't lose either of you. I was scared to say anything. I didn't want you to think that I wanted to replace Mac, " Renee responds to James's confession.  
When James hears that he wants to let her know, he saw the video but without actually saying that he did. So he skirts around it by saying something that Renee had said in the video.  
"I know Mac would want me to be happy. She really liked you. Mac would want me to find someone who made me happy in ways that only Mac could. Baby, you make me happy in ways that I had thought were impossible since Mac died. I thought that part of me had died when she did," James says to Renee as he leans in to kiss her forehead.  
"You saw it, didn't you?" Renee asks James sheepishly.  
"Yes, I saw it," James says  
"I put it there right after your wedding. I knew something might go totally wrong, and I wanted to tell you those things. To be honest, I thought that I would be dead long before anything terrible happened to either of you," Renee confesses to James.  
"In your defense Renee, you should have died more than a dozen times. You are just too stubborn for death to stick. I am very thankful for that personality trait."  
"I owe you more than you will ever owe me. You literally risked your life for me more than once. The first time was when you ordered the airstrike. Then again, at that ambush, when you took three rounds from an AK-47. Then, when you and Charlie took out that suicide bomber who had snuck onto the base. Finally, when you were willing to sacrifice your life to save me when we were carjacked," James finishes talking when Horatio walks back into Renee's room.


	4. Chapter: Home Town Hero Returns

Around March, Renee got a surprise phone call. Renee had just gotten up for the morning when she grabbed her cellphone. The caller ID said, Shorty Gorham. She had no idea why her best friend from preschool would be calling her. The two just saw each other only four months ago.  
"Hey, Shorty. What's up?" Renee asks her oldest friend.  
"Hi, Nae. Our high school reunion board asked me to call you. We all would love for you to come. It is at the start of next month, April. You have missed our ten year and our fifteen-year reunions. I realize that you were overseas for those. You never came home even for your mom's funeral. You might not know it, but you are our home town hero," Shorty suddenly drops the question on Renee.  
"The reunion invitation is for you plus one. You can even bring one or both of your canines. I personally would love to meet Charlie. You talked so freely and lovingly of her.  
The people who bought your mom's place turned it into an Air B&B. You and I can go in together and rent it for the week. The owners will give you a discount since you used to live there. You know our southern hospitality."  
"The Border Patrol still uses your old barn to keep their horses in. I know Sierra's herd mate, that jet black gelding is still there. I'm friends with his owner."  
When Renee heard that part, she was leaning more and more to going. But, who would be her plus one? The obvious choice would be James."  
"Let me think about this, I'll let you know by tomorrow morning," Renee tells her old friend.  
"Sure, just let me know what you decide. I need to make travel arrangements for you to get home," Shorty tells Renee before he hangs up the phone.  
Hanging up the phone, Renee heads down the hall to James's room. He and Piper had moved in temporarily. Both Horatio and James thought that someone needed to be there to keep an eye on Renee. Somebody needed to be sure that Renee didn't do anything stupid.  
Walking into his room, Renee finds it empty. She already knew that Piper was downstairs since the girl had walked past Renee's bedroom door on her way downstairs.  
Somehow James must have slipped past her on his way to the kitchen.  
Going downstairs Renee is accompanied by Echo. The canine had followed Piper and Charlie down when the teenager had gone down earlier.  
Entering the kitchen, Renee is greeted by a delicious smell first. Before she even gets in the kitchen, she smells Beignets and bacon. While Renee was in New Orleans, she had bought packages of Cafe Dumont Beignet mix.  
Renee didn't know that James had gotten up hours ago to make her breakfast. He was going to take it up to her for breakfast in bed.  
Piper was already finishing up her breakfast and washing her dishes. James had even scrambled up some eggs for the dogs. He knew that Renee always made the dogs eggs whenever she made breakfast. Both Echo and Charlie were busy cleaning their bowls.  
"Oh, you're up. Sweetie, I was going to bring you breakfast," James tells a slightly surprised Renee.  
He quickly places her plate down on the kitchen island. Being the gentleman he is, James pulls out Renee's seat and pushes it in for her.  
"Black Tea with honey, cream, and Splenda. Just like you like," James tells a sleepy Renee.  
"Thank you, James," Renee tells him.  
Renee asks James, "I have a proposition for you. Will you go with me to my high school reunion. I don't want to go alone. My best friend since preschool just called and asked me to come. If you do this for me, then I'll go with you as your plus one without question."  
James has been curious as to how Renee had grown up, so of course, he says, "yes, of course, I will go with you."  
With the news, Renee quickly calls Shorty back.  
"That was quick, have you decided if you are coming," Shorty asks her.  
"I have decided to come. You have already met Echo, so I will bring Charlie. She's a retired Marine canine and a retired border patrol canine.  
Now she is just my pet. Charlie lost her right front leg to a drive-by shooting a year ago," Renee finished explaining Charlie to Shorty.  
"Great, I'll just get the plans finalized and get back to you," Shorty then hangs up on his best friend since preschool.  
With travel plans finalized, Renee needed to figure out what to wear to her high school reunion. She doesn't have any dresses. Renee has worn 5 11 cargo pants, t-shirts, and black combat boots for the last twenty years. Before that, back in high school, she only wore Wrangler jeans, Ariat cowboy boots, and button-up shirts.  
Renee did still have her dress uniform from the Marines, but she was not sure she wanted to wear that to her reunion. She did know that James was planning on wearing his dress uniform to the reunion. If she did wear her dress uniform, she could wear the ribbons and medals that she earned.  
Renee and James were both planning on wearing their Marine fatigues and combat boots for the flight back to Beaumont, Texas. They were more comfortable wearing the uniform that they had worn for twenty years, than anything else. Maybe Piper can help her out. She needed a second opinion on what to wear. Renee decided to ask both Calleigh and Piper what they think.  
"Can you help me decide if I should wear my Marine dress uniform or an actual dress to my high school reunion. If it is a dress, I need help to pick one out since I don't have any," Renee asks Calleigh over the phone.  
"Of course, I'll help you. This sounds like fun," Calleigh responds to Renee's request.  
Calleigh quickly arrives at Renee's house. Charlie was very excited to see Calleigh again. Calleigh watched Charlie after Renee was attacked a year earlier.  
Both Calleigh and Piper both tell Renee the same thing.  
"Surprise him, wear your dress uniform to the reunion. Go to the locker room and change into a dress your friend Shorty puts in for you. James will never see it coming."  
With that detail decided, Renee needed help to pick a dress out. She can't remember the last time that she wore one, besides Mac and James's wedding. It took them a long time to agree on a dress. Renee ended up buying two since Calleigh managed to convince her that she needed two different styles.  
"There will always be an occasion for you to need to wear a dress. Both colors look amazing on you. I really like the royal blue one. Piper really likes the emerald green one. I understand why you are a little apprehensive about wearing an open back dress. The scars don't define you. James will be mesmerized by you no matter what you wear. Everyone can see he is madly in love with you. He watches your every move with complete awe. When you were hurt, James never left your side. Even Horatio sees it," is what Calleigh told Renee.  
"You don't know it, but when you were shot in the carjacking, you were in critical condition. The bullet nicked your inferior vena cava. You lost almost half of your blood. You stopped James from bleeding, but you nearly sacrificed yourself doing it. Horatio gave you blood, or you would have bled to death. James was so scared for you."  
"He held your hand, kissed it, and prayed to God that you would wake up. I overheard him during one of the prayers, and what I heard has stuck with me ever since."  
James prayed, "God, please, don't take her. Take me instead. I just found happiness after years of missing Mac. I thought that parts of me died the day she did. Nae showed me that the parts of me that I thought died with Mac were indeed alive. Please don't take her, not now," Calleigh tells Renee just what James had told God when Renee was in the coma after getting shot.  
"Seeing you like that, just about killed James. He will think that you are the most beautiful woman at the reunion no matter what you are wearing," Calleigh finishes talking to Renee.  
"Yea, daddy thinks your scars are beautiful. I know, he told me that. I was embarrassed to show my gunshot scar until he told me about your scars and how beautiful he thinks that they are," Piper chimes in.  
It was not very long until James, Renee, and Charlie were flying home to attend Renee's twentieth high school reunion. This will be the first time that Renee had visited her home town since she joined the Marines when she was eighteen years old. When she was a Marine and was stateside, her mom would visit her in New Orleans.  
Renee was not sure what to expect about coming home. It was not a long flight, so it only took two hours. Walking down to the baggage claim, Renee and James were greeted by a large mass of people. Some were holding up signs that said, "Welcome Home, Our Local Hero." Renee was crying when she looked at James.  
"I thought that they would have forgotten me with all this time past," Renee says between the tears. It takes a long time for Renee, James, and Charlie to walk through the crowd. They eventually found their way to Shorty, who was waiting to take them back to the house that Renee grew up in.  
Everyone that Renee walked by wanted to thank her for her service and to welcome her home. It was very touching to see all that support from her home town.  
Renee, James, Charlie, Shorty, and his wife quickly arrived at the large farmhouse that was Renee's home when she was a kid.  
Getting out of the car, Renee took a deep breath, taking it all in. Renee still knew where the spare key was kept since she was best friends with the owner growing up. The owner of the large cattle ranch that backed her property had a daughter Renee's age, Rosy.  
When Renee's mom died, she had Rosy sell her mom's house. It turns out. She sold it to her father. He had wanted to get his hands on Renee's land for a very long time. Renee's land had a natural spring that kept her pastures green all year long without paying for water.  
The farmhouse looked untouched from the outside. Walking in was like walking into a time machine. Everything was the same. Renee was not mad at her friend for selling her mom's house furnished. She did tell Rosy to do whatever she wanted with the stuff.  
Walking into the kitchen, the group found a long handwritten note addressed to Renee Kerrigan.  
"Nae, I stocked the fridge with everything that you like. I really miss you and am very upset that I was unable to meet you at the airport. It's calving season, and I am sure you remember how that was. I have to be here for the cows. I will be at the reunion. I have a surprise for you. I know that you will love it. I know you brought your dog. I bought her a steak that is in the fridge. All of your things I put in the attic. Your photos, trophies, and old family videos are all up in clearly labeled boxes. The Border Patrol agents that are still boarding at the old barn have a message that they want me to pass on. They say that you can ride any of the horses you want. They are off at a training camp for the week. I can't wait to see you again. Love, Rosy Russell"  
"That was nice of Rosy. I do miss her," Renee tells the room.  
"Nae, Why don't you take the master bedroom, and my wife and I will take your old bedroom," Shorty tells his old friend.  
Renee couldn't argue with it, so she agreed. The first night before the reunion went very smoothly. James and Renee would go to bed. He would sleep in what used to be her family's spare bedroom.  
The following morning, James made everyone bacon and eggs for breakfast. After eating, Renee wanted to take James for a ride around the area. She wanted to show James, the old high school rodeo grounds, as well as the local small craft airport. Saddling up two of the Border Patrol horses, the two friends head off for a long horseback ride.  
Renee was eager to show James her old haunts. She really wanted to take James on a ride to the actual high school. The reunion was going to be held there the next day. James went along for the ride, so to speak. Renee took James to where they were attacked by the mountain lion. The whole ride, Renee, was telling James all about growing up there.  
Renee wanted to tell James about some key stories to her life.  
"In high school, I was a safety rider for my high school rodeo team. Shorty was a bullfighter. I was also the supplier of the bulls we used in the high school rodeo circuit in our area. Well, I raised the bulls, so I recognized when one of the bulls began to bellow out. I knew it was the one bull you never wanted to hear. He hated everybody but me."  
"You needed to clip his gate closed since he knew how to open the gates if you didn't. I guess a new student forgot to do that before they left for the day. It was just Shorty and me at the rodeo grounds. Sierra and I were on the other side of the Arena and around the corner. I had just left Shorty. I knew his back was turned to the bullpens since he was putting the barrels away."  
"I needed to get to Shorty before the bull got there. I was not quick enough. Getting around the corner in time to see the bull just pounding on him."  
"I threw my lariat around the bull and dragged him back to his pen. Getting back to Shorty, I found him not conscious. As the crow flies, we were five miles from the hospital. I knew that due to the remote location and the windy roads, it would take an ambulance about forty minutes to get there."  
"I also knew that it would only take me fifteen minutes to get him to the hospital if Shorty and I rode double on Sierra. I took that ride every day. On one side of the high school rodeo grounds, is the small craft airport. On the other side of the airport is the farm. The hospital is about three miles past the farm on a diagonal line. The quickest route there was the deer trail I took when I was boar hunting or trail riding."  
"Putting Shorty over the front of my saddle, I remounted and rode to the hospital faster than I have ever ridden before."  
"Shorty was in a coma for a few days. The bull we pulled from the circuit since he did attack Shorty on purpose."  
"That is how I saved Shorty Gorham's life."  
Renee went on and told James about the time at Shorty had saved her life when they were in the third grade.  
"When Shorty and I were in the third grade, our school had optional PE for our grade. The school didn't do your normal PE sports. Swimming, Diving, Firearm safety, Baseball, Wrestling, Karate, Football, Volleyball, and Surfing were the sports offered. They also had a high school rodeo team."  
"My mom had me doing a lot of those sports outside of school. We had just finished the Wrestling and Karate months, and just started the swimming month."  
"The teacher left us all in the pool area when she took a sick kid to the nurse. While the teacher was out, the new kid in school pushed me into the pool. He jumped in after me only to grabbed me and hold me down. He was mad at me since I had beat him up in wrestling and karate the past two months. He couldn't stand being beat by a girl."  
"Well, I eventually stopped moving when I passed out. The bully let me go and got out of the pool. Shorty jumped in and pulled me out. Placing me on the ground, he started CPR. His mom had taught it to him for emergencies."  
"The teacher came back to see Shorty doing CPR on me. She demanded to know who did it. No one said anything until I coughed up the water. Then and only then did the other students ID the bully."  
"They were more afraid of what I would do to them for not telling than they were of him for saying."  
"Thinking about it, I was the reason that bullying was not a problem at my school while I was there. Every year there was a new bully. Every year the former bullies would not say anything. They just waited for the new one to make their move. I was obviously the easy target from their perspective."  
"The former bullies knew better than mess with me. I always held my ground. I never backed down. The new one would take a swing at me or someone else. I would kick their ass, so to speak."  
"After that one incident, the bully would stop bullying, and peace would return. If the bully initially went after another kid, not me, then the kid that the bully went after and the bully would end up being friends. If the bully went after me, then we would end up being friends. More often than not, the bully went after me since I was so much smaller than everyone else. That is how I got my nickname of Smidge. I only let Shorty call me that, though."  
By this time of the trail ride, Renee and James had gotten to the high school. Her school had an open front four-stall barn for those students who rode to school. Putting the horses one in each stall, Renee led James around, giving him a tour of her school.  
After a tour of her old high school haunts, Renee and James ride back to the farmhouse. Back to Shorty and his wife. Those two stayed back with Charlie to cook dinner for the four of them plus Charlie.  
The ride back seemed to go by much faster. Before Renee knew it, they were riding up to the Border Patrol Barn. The reunion was the following evening. The morning of the reunion came rather calmly. Renee pulled Shorty to the side and told him about her idea about surprising James with Renee wearing a dress for one of the first time that James had known her. The first time since James and McKinzie's wedding. Shorty then told his wife, and she agreed to take the dress to the school early and hiding it in the girl's bathroom.  
"I'll put it in the stall closest to the window. I'll lock it, so you just need to crawl under the door to get in," Shorty's wife tells an anxious Renee. As far as James was concerned with Renee was wearing her Marine dress uniform to the reunion. James didn't know that she had tucked a dress behind the uniform inside the garment bag.  
Renee and James left for the reunion an hour and a half early so that they could ride to the school on horseback. Just like she used to do when she was younger. With both Marines in their dress uniform, they headed off to the reunion. Shorty waited until they were well on the trail before he went up and grabbed Renee's garment bag.  
Just as they had planned, Renee and James rode to school, while Shorty and his wife drove with Renee's canine Charlie. Renee knew the trail to school like the back of her hand. Nothing has changed in the trail or the area. Like the day before, Renee and James left the horses in the school's barn and walked into the cafeteria.  
This time the cafeteria was full of people. Unbeknownst to Renee, the school had set up a slide show about Renee and her accomplishments. Since Renee was in her dress uniform, the school all saw her medals and ribbons that she earned. They all saw her honors: two silver stars, two bronze stars, four Army and Marine Corps Medals, four distinguished service medals, and five purple hearts.  
Her schoolmates all wanted to thank her for all she did for both the school and the nation. Everyone was thrilled to see her except for a small group of men who just hung out in the back. People came up and told stories about when Renee had helped them or a friend.  
After the slide show was done, Renee told James that she needed to use the bathroom. As she walked to the restrooms, she nodded at Shorty and his wife as she went.  
When in the bathroom, Renee went straight to the far stall and crawled under the door. Inside was Renee's garment bag just as planned. A few minutes later, Shorty's wife came in to help Renee get ready.  
Renee was never one to wear makeup, so her friend's wife did Renee's makeup and redid her hair. Renee had her hair pulled back and up in a tight bun. Shorty's wife brushed it and styled it down. When it was done, Shorty's wife moved aside and showed Renee how she looked. She didn't even recognize herself.  
"Are you ready, Sweetie?" Renee's best friend's wife asks her.  
"Ready as I'll ever be. Here we go," Renee says as she psyched herself up to go out and surprise James.  
"I'll go distract him, so he will not see you until you are ready," Shorty's wife says as she leaves the bathroom.  
With Shorty's wife acting as a distraction, Renee walks into the cafeteria. When she walked into the room, everyone turned. All of a sudden, Renee was the center of everyone's attention. Still, James hadn't turned around yet.  
Renee was able to sneak up on him before she tapped him on the shoulder. The tap caused James to turn to face Renee. Renee had already shocked Shorty when she walked into the room. His wife had to elbow him in the ribs. That got her husband to close his mouth, which had been hanging open.  
James was stammering, just trying to say anything. Renee was stunning in a beautiful emerald green floor-length v-neck satin dress. She wanted James to be able to see the whole dress, so she did a little spin. That is when James saw the open-back. Smiling, James tells Renee, "you look amazing, Sweetheart."  
If Renee had not had a name tag, no one would have recognized her at the reunion. Renee was completely unrecognizable in that dress.  
When one of her old classmates comes up and says something, Renee hears a surprising answer from James.  
"Hi, Renee. I never thanked you for stopping that kid from bullying me in the fourth grade," is what her classmate said to James. Before he asks James, "How do you know our Renee, sir?" Her classmate had joined the Navy after high school and knew James outranked him.  
"Oh, Nae. She's my girlfriend. I've known her for close to twenty years. Like you, she saved me more than once. This is her retired Marine canine Charlie. This dog saved my life too, more than once." James says, winking at Renee.  
When her classmate walked away, Renee looks at James, who just grinned back and winked at her.  
"What, we have been seeing each other for a long time. Might as well make it official," James responds to Renee's ongoing stare. After introductions were made, James put his hand on Renee's lower back. Leaning in, he whispers in her ear.  
"I know you can't dance, but just take your shoes off and put your feet on mine. I will dance for both of us."  
Renee just beamed at James, as she took off her black high heels. The two of them danced the night away. They only stopped when the music stopped.  
The two walked back to the table that they were sharing with Shorty and his wife. The two women broke off from the men to get to know each other a little more. The men took the opportunity to get to know each other better too.  
"I have to thank you for saving Nae's life in the third grade. If you didn't do that, I would have died. That woman is amazing. That canine of hers' Charlie is incredible. We both owe our lives to Renee," James tells a surprised Shorty  
"Yeah, she is literally unstoppable. Nothing can stop her when she sets her mind to something." Shorty couldn't agree with James more. Looking up to see Renee motioning to him.  
Getting off of his seat, James goes to see what she wants.  
"I just wanted to let you know that I was heading to the bathroom. That way, you will not wonder where I am."


	5. Chapter: When Things Go Sideways

Chapter: Inner Demons

After Renee, James, and Charlie got home from the hospital, Renee began to behave differently. She became jumpy and easily startled.

For as long as James had known, Renee, she was always the steady one with nerves of steel. She was the one you could count on to keep her cool under the most intense firefight.

Lately, Renee has started to jump out of her skin when someone touches her, or she hears a loud noise. She began to withdraw from everything she used to enjoy. If James, Horatio, or Piper made a fast move, Renee would cower in a corner and tremble in fear. She became overly emotional and prone to outbursts. Renee, in a sense, stopped being Renee.

Whenever James tries to hug her, Renee flinches and cowers in complete terror. Renee had gone through hell in her life, the trauma of her recent assault must have been the last straw. She was clearly exhibiting signs of severe and debilitating PTSD.

James took time off of work to help Renee cope. He made up his mind when he found Renee unconscious on the bedroom floor. There seemed to be no reason why she passed out. Not only did James find her passed out, but Piper and Horatio too. Piper found her unconscious in the kitchen, and Horatio found her in Renee's bathroom.

Every time that they had found her, there was no clue why she passed out. James was very worried when again, he found Renee unconscious in her walk-in closet. Everyone in the house had been finding her unconscious more and more frequently. Even the canines found her passed out on the floor or the furniture.

Renee was also having severe and ever-worsening and violent night terrors. James had Piper stay at her friend's house since she was not able to sleep with Renee's night terrors.

The night terrors finally reached a pinnacle when Renee wakes James up with a blood-curdling scream.

"Aargh, Stop, Aargh. Stop it. Get off me... Get off me... Stop it, don't touch me.." Renee screamed.

James runs into Renee's room and tries to wake her. Renee responds to his touch by hitting him just below his right eye with a solid left hook. Instead of leaving, James pulls her close and holds her tight to his chest.

"Shhh... you're okay... You're safe..." James says repeatedly.

Eventually, Renee exhausts herself from fighting and falls asleep without ever waking up from her terror.

Renee falls asleep with her head on James's chest. Listening to his heartbeat, Renee sleeps the rest of the night in James's arms.

The following morning, Renee wakes up, still resting her head on James's chest. She had no memory as to how she got there. Opening her eyes, she looks up at James's face. For a few minutes, she couldn't figure out what was wrong with his eye. When it finally dawned on her why it looked funny, she was mortified. James was sporting a big shiner. She couldn't look James in the eye.

James looks down to see that Renee was awake. He softly smiles at her.

"Good morning, sweetheart. I need to go to the store to get us breakfast," James tells a horrified Renee.

James quickly gets ready to leave to get breakfast. Getting into his new truck, he drives down to Renee's favorite breakfast place.

He was gone for about ten minutes. What he walks into her room to see, makes it clear why Renee has been passing out lately.

James walks in on Renee, self-asphyxiating herself with her back to him. He walks in to see Renee dropping to the ground, unconscious. She was choking herself until she lost consciousness. Renee would tie a scarf around her neck, then tie it off on a doorknob. When she would pass out, she would let go of the scarf and drop to the ground.

James takes off the scarf that was now loose around Renee's neck.

"Nae... Nae... open your eyes, baby. Come on, open your eyes," James was pissed, but he was also scared for Renee.

"What the hell, Renee. Are you trying to kill yourself? Why are you doing that to yourself, Sweetheart?" James tells Renee when she finally opens her eyes.

"I'm sorry, but it's the only way for me to sleep without the terrors starting right after," Renee says, hanging her head down out of shame.

"Baby, please stop doing it to yourself. You will kill yourself doing that. You sleep soundly when you sleep in my arms. I will gladly hold you as you sleep, every night. Baby, I'll do anything to keep you safe," James tells Renee.

"Promise me that you will stop doing that," James begs Renee. He just can't lose her.

"I promise," Renee responds to James's pleas.

James holds Renee as she sleeps for months. Lying down on Renee's bed all night. He would have gladly done it indefinitely, but it all comes crashing down when he walks in on her doing it again.

"What the hell, Nae. You promised me you stopped. I have to go." James says as he leaves the house. He slams the door behind him as he leaves.

When he left, Renee was convinced that he was gone forever. Why would he return to a person who does that? Why would he want to be with someone who strangles herself?

Renee knows that she can't do it by herself. She really can't live without James. Renee has never needed anyone just to live.

In his truck, James only gets two blocks away when he realizes why Renee does what she does. She can't show weakness. Asking for help is a sign of weakness. Relying on James to sleep is a huge sign of weakness. Renee had never needed anyone. He needs to convince Renee that he will never tell anyone that she needs him. He loves her more than anything. Now that her PTSD has gotten this bad, she needs help. Realizing that, James does a quick u-turn.

He needs to get back before Renee does something stupid. Running up her stairs, he takes them two at a time. James bursts into Renee's bedroom. On the other side of the bedroom door, Renee did what James had feared that she would do.

The door opened to show Renee hanging from the center brace of her four-poster bed. James quickly cuts her down. He had been gone less than five minutes. She must have done it right after he left. Renee had used one of her scarfs to do it. Quickly he takes it off of her neck.

He very swiftly realized that she was not breathing. Starting CPR, James was desperate to get Renee breathing on her own. Taking out his cellphone, James has a decision to make. Does he tell the truth about Renee's suicide attempt or not.

Knowing it would follow her forever, James chose the latter.

"911 emergency, What's your emergency?"

"My name is James O'Shea, I came home and found my girlfriend unconscious on the floor. She's not breathing, get an ambulance here right away."

"Don't worry, sir. An ambulance is en route."

He called the paramedics, all while doing CPR on Renee. He was not going to stop unless someone makes him. He hated to admit it, but he understood what she was going through.

Renee is the definition of a Marines, she is strong and independent. She wants to do everything on her own.

This is the first time in her life that she has ever needed anyone. He needs to find a way for Renee to sleep without him, for her own safety. James would be more than willing to help her sleep every night, but Renee needs to be able to do it alone.

The paramedics are able to get Renee breathing on her own when they intubate her. She had soft tissue damage to her larynx from her attempted hanging. When Renee opened her

eyes she was very shocked.

"Baby, don't ever think that I will ever leave you. That is never going to happen. I just needed to think. I only got two blocks away, when I turned right around and came straight home," James says as he reassures Renee.

"I didn't call Horatio yet," he says when he noticed the fear in Renee's eyes. "I thought that we could do that together.

Baby, if you tell us your triggers then we can help you avoid

them when we are together. I know your brother and his team are more than willing to help you avoid another PTSD episode," James continue to talk to an exhausted Renee.

Renee had only been unconscious for a few hours since she had only been hanging for two and a half minutes when James had found her. The hospital let her go since James convinced them that is was an accident and not a suicidal attempt.

James really wanted to help Renee deal with her PTSD, so he told her that he would go with her and find a good therapist to help her learn to deal with it in a healthy way. As far as Renee was concerned with she only had two choices. One being just deal with the night terrors and two drugging herself since when she was in the hospital drugged with Morphine she didn't have night terrors.

Puling Renee aside James made a sudden confession to her.

"Baby, I know that you sleep better when on my chest. But to the truthful with you. I sleep better when you sleep on my chest. I need it as much as you need it. If not more than you," James confesses to Renee.

"Feeling you on me grounds me on earth. I need that feeling more than I was willing to admit. Now you know the truth. I can't sleep without you, Baby," James continue his confession.

Renee wanted to try to treat her PTSD with the help of Horatio and his team. She also wanted to see if she could train Echo to sense when Renee was about to have an episode. The canine would hopefully be able to hep Renee snap out of an episode. James was reluctant but did agree to give it a try before going to a therapist. James loved Renee more than anything. He just wanted Renee to be safe and okay.

"I have severe PTSD, I want you guys to know what might trigger an episode so that you can help me avoid a situation where I might have an episode," Renee tells a room full of her brother's team members.

Renee was already good friends with Calleigh and Natalia. Eric already knew about just about everything that happened to Renee since he was at the hospital with Horatio through most of it. James was right in the fact that the whole team were more than willing to help her. They all are like her family. They want her to be safe. They said as much.

"If someone touches me when I do not see it coming or some one moves fast towards me, I tend to flinch and tremble. I used to love surprise hugs but now they send me in the corner cowering in fear. I hope that now that you know what might trigger me you can help keep me away from situations that might trigger me. Maybe you can shield me from them."

"Calleigh maybe you can come over and we can go into my indoor range and shoot. I'll even let you fire the JDJ. I heard that you should find relaxing hobbies. I find shooting very relaxing."

"I also really want to get back into horses. Piper, would you like to learn how to ride horses. I am a very good teacher."

"James, we could start surfing together again. Just like we used to do in New Orleans. We can even get Piper surfing too. I can call Shorty and have him send my short board for Piper to learn on."

"I still have my KOA long board and your old short board in the garage. I often go surfing by myself. I find it very relaxing. You know being in nature."

"Piper, would you like to teach me paintball. That would be fun to learn. We can crash paintball wars. I don't know if your dad ever told you but I am a better shooter than he is. I never miss even at two miles away."

"I will work with Echo and train her to alert me to an impending PTSD episode. We all know that she can do that. Charlie already does alert."

"I know that I will never be a cop or a Marine again. I can still train dogs and horses. That will be free of stressful situations. I can also teach shooting at McGraw's Paintball and Gun Range. Tobias does owe me for saving his life in the sandbox." Renee finishes talking to her brother, and his team.

"I told the base that I can't be deployed again. I will train the next generation of snipers. I'm not going to leave you alone, Sweetheart," James tells a surprised Renee.

"James, you love your work," Renee protests the news.

"I love you and Piper more than that," James reply to Renee's comment.

The hospital keeps Renee there for a week to make sure that she is ok. After that James and Piper move in with Piper to keep an eye on Renee. James also wanted to been there in case Renee needs someone there.

With Renee sleeping on his chest, James flashes back to when he really lost her for a while. He finally had told Renee that he needs her. Having her sleep on his chest grounds him. He didn't realize how much he missed the feeling since Mac died.

Watching as Renee slept peacefully on his chest he flashes back. Flashing back to a time after Renee's high school reunion but before Renee started to show the signs of severe PTSD.


	6. Chapter: Inner Demons

After Renee, James, and the dogs got home from the hospital, Renee began to behave differently. She manages to hide her PTSD from everyone for quite a while. James only finds out about it by accident.  
He had come home from teaching firearms at the Marine Base. He wanted to surprise Renee. With her back to him, he snuck up on her. James grabbed her around her waist.  
"Gotcha," he tells her. How Renee responded to his gesture was shocking, to say the least. Renee just about jumped out of her skin.  
"Get away from me… Don't touch me… get away," she screamed at the top of her lungs.  
With her arms flailing around, she tries to get away from him.  
Gently but firmly, James pulls her close. Holding her tight, he lets her fight him.  
"Shhh… Nae… Nae… It's me, James… You're okay… you're safe… I got you…" James says as he attempts to soothe her.  
Renee manages to push herself free from him. This causes her to fall on her back. In an utter panic, she scrambles to her feet. Renee runs to a corner of the room and shakes uncontrollably. When she finally makes eye contact with James, he can clearly see that she is not there. Renee didn't know where to turn.  
Instantly James knows he needs to change his approach.  
"Charlie, come here," James calls Renee's retired Marine canine.  
Charlie calmly walks into the kitchen behind James.  
Walking past James, the canine could sense that Renee needed help. James could hear the dog quietly whine. Lying on her stomach, the Marine canine army crawled up to Renee. She was as non-threatening as possible. As Charlie licks Renee's face, James can see Renee changing.  
When Renee eventually looks up, she finally recognized James.  
"James, when did you get home? What happened? Why am I on the floor?"  
"I got home and tried to surprise you. You snapped, Baby, are you okay?" James responds to Renee.  
"I tried to help you, but you were too scared, and you fought me. Charlie was the one to get through to you," James continues to answer Renee's question.  
For as long as James had known, Renee, she was always the steady one with nerves of steel. She was the one you could count on to keep her cool under the most intense firefight.  
Since that first episode, James stopped trying to surprise Renee whatsoever.  
If James, Horatio, or Piper made a fast move, Renee would cower in a corner and tremble in fear. She became overly emotional and prone to outbursts. Renee, in a sense, stopped being Renee.  
Whenever poor James tries to hug her, Renee flinches and cowers in complete terror. Renee had gone through hell in her life; the trauma of her recent assault must have been the last straw. She was clearly exhibiting signs of severe and debilitating PTSD.  
He tried to make his moves slow and deliberate. He can't help but be amazed that she hadn't shown PTSD sooner with everything that she had gone through. James has started to rely on Charlie more and more.  
If Renee starts to have a break, the canine would approach Renee on her own. With no training at all, this Marine canine just knows when Renee needs her. In those cases, nothing will stop her from getting to Renee and helping her. The canine had a connection with Renee that James could not explain.  
One of the few times that Charlie was not there with James and Renee. Just so happen to be an occasion that Renee starts to show signs of an episode. Horatio, Piper, James, and Renee all went out on the town for a family night at Bass Pro Shop.  
There were a lot of kids running around and screaming. When one of the kids runs very erratically and fast towards her, Renee began to behave very out of it. She was just on edge when Piper touches Renee's hand to ask Renee if she was okay.  
"Nae… Are you okay? Do you need to sit down?" Piper tried to ask Renee. At the teen's touch, Renee jumped and started to shake nonstop. Seeing what just happened, James takes a page out of Charlie's playbook.  
Getting down as low as he could, he inches his way to Renee's side. James tried to be as non-threatening as he could. He got to Renee's side quickly, since Renee had fled to a corner of the store and was just trembling in complete terror.  
"Nae… Nae… It's me, James, you're safe… You're okay. I've got you. It's okay, Sweetheart," James whispers in Renee's ear as he just holds a terrified Renee. She does eventually snap out of it.  
Again she has no idea what happened. Again James soothes Renee. He didn't' want to make Renee feel worse than she obviously felt. He could see it in her eyes.  
Once back at home, Renee started to show more and more signs of PTSD. There was only so much that he could do if Renee doesn't ask for help.  
Renee will still not admit that she had a problem.  
On more than one occasion, James would try to hug Renee. That didn't go as he had planned. He clearly could see Renee flinch at his touch.  
Renee would flinch and recoil in fear when James tried to hug his girlfriend. James needed to make sure that Renee saw him and that they made eye contact before he could hug her. As slowly and as deliberately as possible, James would walk up to Renee and carefully put his arms around her waist. Then and only then would he tighten his hold and hold his girlfriend close to his chest.  
"Nae… Nae… Do you need anything, Baby," James asks as he walks into Renee's bedroom.  
James finds Renee passed out on the floor of her bedroom. Since it's been a little cold lately, James didn't think anything about finding a loose scarf around Renee's neck.  
"Nae… Nae… Sweetie, open your eyes. Wake up, Sweetheart," James tells Renee as he gently shakes her awake.  
"What happened? You passed out," He asks her.  
"I just got a little lightheaded," Renee plays it off as nothing. Getting up on her feet, she just acted like it never happened.  
Seeing how Renee responded, James just shrugged it off too.  
A few days later, James is startled by his daughter shouting at him.  
"Daddy… Daddy… It's Renee. I found her passed out in the kitchen. Come quick."  
Getting to the kitchen, James again finds Renee passed out. She still had a scarf around her neck. Since it was still chilly, James didn't think anything of it.  
"Nae… Nae…" James shakes her awake.  
Again Renee acted like nothing even happened. She just stood up and pretended everything was fine.  
Soon, it was not only him and Piper that was finding Renee passed out. Getting out of the shower, James hears Charlie barking like crazy. He knows that kind of behavior was not normal for Charlie. James just knew something was wrong.  
Following the dog's barking, James found Renee passed out on her bed. Renee still had the scarf around her neck. Removing the scarf, he found a faint mark on her neck.  
"What happened to your neck?" James asks Renee when she opens her eyes.  
"When I fell, my necklace must have bruised my neck. It's nothing." With that, Renee just got up and left James in the bedroom.  
Finding Renee passed out as often as he was, James told his boss that he needed to use his vacation time."  
The final straw about Renee passing out came when James found her passed out in her walk-in closet. While downstairs, James heard a crashing noise. Going upstairs and into her walk-in closet, James sees that Renee had pulled down a clothes bar when she went down.  
Renee was also having severe and ever-worsening and violent night terrors. James had Piper stay at her friend's house since she was not able to sleep with Renee's night terrors.  
The night terrors finally reached a pinnacle when Renee wakes James up with a blood-curdling scream.  
"Aargh, Stop, Aargh. Stop it. Get off me... Get off me... Stop it, don't touch me.." Renee screamed.  
James runs into Renee's room and tries to wake her. Renee responds to his touch by hitting him just below his right eye with a solid left hook. Instead of leaving, James pulls her close and holds her tight to his chest.  
"Shhh... you're okay... You're safe..." James says repeatedly.  
Eventually, Renee exhausts herself from fighting and falls asleep without ever waking up from her terror.  
Renee falls asleep with her head on James's chest. Listening to his heartbeat, Renee sleeps the rest of the night in James's arms.  
The following morning, Renee wakes up, still resting her head on James's chest. She had no memory as to how she got there. Opening her eyes, she looks up at James's face. For a few minutes, she couldn't figure out what was wrong with his eye. When it finally dawned on her why it looked funny, she was mortified. James was sporting a big shiner. She couldn't look James in the eye.  
James looks down to see that Renee was awake. He softly smiles at her.  
"Good morning, sweetheart. I need to go to the store to get us breakfast," James tells a horrified Renee.  
James quickly gets ready to leave to get breakfast. Getting into his new truck, he drives down to Renee's favorite breakfast place.  
He was gone for about ten minutes. What he walks into her room to see, makes it clear why Renee has been passing out lately.  
James walks in on Renee, self-asphyxiating herself with her back to him. He walks in to see Renee dropping to the ground, unconscious. She was choking herself until she lost consciousness. Renee would tie a scarf around her neck, then tie it off on a doorknob or anything similar. When she would pass out, she would let go of the scarf and drop to the ground.  
James takes off the scarf that was now loose around Renee's neck.  
"Nae... Nae... open your eyes, baby. Come on, open your eyes," James was pissed, but he was also scared for Renee.  
"What the hell, Renee. Are you trying to kill yourself? Why are you doing that, Sweetheart?" James tells Renee when she finally opens her eyes.  
"I'm sorry, but it's the only way for me to sleep without the terrors starting right after," Renee says, hanging her head down out of shame.  
"Baby, please stop doing it to yourself. You will kill yourself doing that. You sleep soundly when you sleep in my arms. I will gladly hold you as you sleep, every night. Baby, I'll do anything to keep you safe," James tells Renee.  
"Promise me that you will stop doing that," James begs Renee. He just can't lose her.  
"I promise," Renee responds to James's pleas.  
James holds Renee as she sleeps for two months. He lays down on Renee's bed all night. He would have gladly done it indefinitely, but it all comes crashing down when he walks in on her doing it again.  
"What the hell, Nae. You promised me you stopped. I have to go." James says as he leaves the house. He slams the door behind him as he leaves.  
When he left, Renee was convinced that he was gone forever. Why would he return to a person who does that? Why would he want to be with someone who strangles herself?  
Renee knows that she can't do it alone. She really can't live without James. Renee has never needed anyone just to live.  
In his truck, James only gets two blocks away when he realizes why Renee does what she does. She can't show weakness. Asking for help is a sign of weakness. Relying on James to sleep is a huge sign of weakness. Renee had never needed anyone.  
He has to convince Renee that he will never tell anyone that she needs him. He loves her more than anything. Now that her PTSD has gotten this bad, she needs help. Realizing that, James does a quick u-turn.  
He needs to get back before Renee does something stupid. Running up her stairs, he takes them two at a time. James bursts into Renee's bedroom. On the other side of the bedroom door, Renee did what James had feared that she would do.  
The door opened to show Renee hanging from the center brace of her four-poster bed. James quickly cuts her down. He had been gone less than five minutes. She must have done it right after he left. Renee had used one of her scarfs to do it. Quickly he takes it off of her neck.  
He very swiftly realized that she was not breathing. Starting CPR, James was desperate to get Renee breathing on her own. Taking out his cellphone, James has a decision to make. Does he tell the truth about Renee's suicide attempt or not.  
Knowing it would follow her forever, James chose the latter.  
"911 emergency, What's your emergency?"  
"My name is James O'Shea. I came home and found my girlfriend unconscious on the floor. She's not breathing, get an ambulance here right away."  
"Don't worry, sir. An ambulance is en route."  
He called the paramedics, all while doing CPR on Renee. He was not going to stop unless someone makes him. He hated to admit it, but he understood what she was going through.  
Renee is the definition of a Marine. She is strong and independent. She wants to do everything on her own.  
This is the first time in her life that she has ever needed anyone. He needs to find a way for Renee to sleep without him, for her own safety. James would be more than willing to help her sleep every night, but Renee needs to be able to do it alone.  
The paramedics are able to get Renee breathing on her own when they intubate her. She had soft tissue damage to her larynx from her attempted hanging. When Renee opened her eyes, she was very shocked.  
"Baby, don't ever think that I will ever leave you. That is never going to happen. I just needed to think. I only got two blocks away, when I turned right around and came straight home," James says as he reassures Renee.  
"I didn't call Horatio yet," he says when he noticed the fear in Renee's eyes. "I thought that we could do that together.  
Baby, if you tell us your triggers, then we can help you avoid them when we are together. I know your brother and his team are more than willing to help you avoid another PTSD episode," James continues to talk to an exhausted Renee.  
Renee had only been unconscious for a few hours since she had only been hanging for two and a half minutes when James had found her. The hospital let her go since James convinced them that it was an accident and not a suicidal attempt.  
James really wanted to help Renee deal with her PTSD, so he told her that he would go with her and find a good therapist to help her learn to deal with it in a healthy way. As far as Renee was concerned with, she only had two choices. One being just deal with the night terrors and two drugging herself since when she was in the hospital drugged with Morphine, she didn't have night terrors.  
Pulling Renee aside, James made a sudden confession to her.  
"Baby, I know that you sleep better when on my chest. But to be truthful with you. I sleep better when you sleep on my chest. I need it as much as you need it. If not more than you," James confesses to Renee.  
"Feeling you on me grounds me on earth. I need that feeling more than I was willing to admit. Now you know the truth. I can't sleep without you, Baby," James continued his confession.  
Renee wanted to try to treat her PTSD with the help of Horatio and his team. She also wanted to see if she could train Echo to sense when Renee was about to have an episode. The canine would hopefully be able to help Renee snap out of an episode. James was reluctant but did agree to give it a try before going to a therapist. James loved Renee more than anything. He just wanted Renee to be safe and okay.  
"I didn't tell you what happened at the reunion. While at the reunion, I was grabbed in the bathroom. James found me stripped, bloody, beaten, hanging from a shower head in the boy's wrestling locker room. Charlie brought him to me. My attackers had cut my back deeply. When James found me, I was overdosing. He knew that since Charlie alerted him to two empty drug baggies. James carries me to the nurse's office. My friend Shorty found the Narcan shot."  
"At the hospital, I went through a SART exam since I had no memory of how I ended up hanging in my bra and underwear. The nurse found foreign DNA in me. The toxicology report showed I had been dosed with ecstasy and heroin. Now I have developed severe PTSD from the assault. I want you guys to know what might trigger an episode so that you can help me avoid a situation where I might have an episode," Renee tells a room full of her brother's team members.  
Renee was already good friends with Calleigh and Natalia. Eric already knew about just about everything that happened to Renee since he was at the hospital with Horatio through most of it. James was right in the fact that the whole team were more than willing to help her. They all are like her family. They want her to be safe. They said as much.  
"If someone touches me when I do not see it was coming or someone moves fast towards me, I tend to flinch and tremble. I used to love surprise hugs, but now they send me in the corner cowering in fear. I hope that now that you know what might trigger me, you can help keep me away from situations that might trigger me. Maybe you can shield me from them."  
"Calleigh, maybe you can come over, and we can go into my indoor range and shoot. I'll even let you fire the JDJ. I heard that you should find relaxing hobbies. I find shooting very relaxing."  
"I also really want to get back into horses. Piper, would you like to learn how to ride horses. I am a very good teacher."  
"James, we could start surfing together again. Just like we used to do in New Orleans. We can even get Piper surfing too. I can call Shorty and have him send my shortboard for Piper to learn on."  
"I still have my KOA longboard and your old shortboard in the garage. I often go surfing by myself. I find it very relaxing. You know being in nature."  
"Piper, would you like to teach me paintball. That would be fun to learn. We can crash paintball wars. I don't know if your dad ever told you, but I am a better shooter than he is. I never miss even at two miles away."  
"I will work with Echo and train her to alert me to an impending PTSD episode. We all know that she can do that. Charlie already does alert."  
"I know that I will never be a cop or a Marine again. I can still train dogs and horses. That will be free of stressful situations. I can also teach shooting at McGraw's Paintball and Gun Range. Tobias does owe me for saving his life in the sandbox." Renee finishes talking to her brother and his team.  
"I told the base that I can't be deployed again. I will train the next generation of snipers. I'm not going to leave you alone, Sweetheart," James tells a surprised Renee.  
"James, you love your work," Renee protests the news.  
"I love you and Piper more than that," James reply to Renee's comment.  
The hospital keeps Renee there for a week to make sure that she is okay. After that, James and Piper move in with Renee to keep an eye on her. James also wanted to be there in case Renee needs someone there.  
With Renee sleeping on his chest, James flashes back to when he really lost her for a while. He finally had told Renee that he needs her. Having her sleep on his chest grounds him. He didn't realize how much he missed the feeling since Mac died.  
Watching as Renee slept peacefully on his chest, he flashes back. Flashing back to a time after Renee's high school reunion but before Renee started to show the signs of severe PTSD.


	7. Chapter: Close Call

FLASHBACK TO WHEN HE REALLY DID LOSE RENEE FOR A WHILE  
Renee, James, and Charlie got home from the reunion, and she wanted to forget it ever even happened. She never told her brother about it.  
Walking down the upstairs hall, James was walking past Renee's bedroom. James noticed that Renee was not in bed. Going downstairs, he finds Renee standing in front of an open refrigerator door.  
"Nae, what are you doing? You're letting out all the cold air." James asks Renee. She seemed a little out of it.  
"Nae, did you hear me?" he asks her again. Renee was still standing in front of the open fridge door, wrapped up in a throw blanket.  
With Renee's back to him, he can only see Renee drop to the ground. James never saw the beads of sweat on her forehead. Nor did he see her flush face. Before he can get around the kitchen island, Renee is trying to get to her feet.  
Getting to Renee's side, James helps her to her feet. Renee turns away so he can't see her face.  
"Are you okay, Sweetheart?" He asks Renee.  
"I don't feel so great, Honey. I think that I'll go back to bed." Renee answers James as she heads to the stairs to go back to bed before he can see her face.  
James follows her upstairs after a few minutes. He needed to make sure that his girlfriend was okay.  
"Nae... Sweetie... Do you need anything?" James asks Renee as she lies in bed.  
Renee didn't respond in any way. Rushing to Renee's side, he attempts to wake Renee up. Touching Renee's cheek, he tries to make her wake up. When she opens her eyes, James sighs a sigh of relief.  
"You're burning up, Sweetheart. I need to take your temperature." James runs into Renee's bathroom and grabs the temporal scanner.  
"God, you have a temperature of 104. That's it. I'm taking you to the hospital you have a dangerously high fever."  
Wordlessly he scoops Renee into his arms as he rushes Renee to the hospital.  
By the time he gets her to the hospital, she was no longer conscious. Not being conscious, Renee gets rushed into the ER by the nurses and doctors.  
James didn't want to worry Horatio, so he waits a while before he calls her brother. Alexx allows James to stay by Renee's side in the ER.  
Before they do anything, they have to try to get her temperature down. The longer it stays that high, the greater the chance of Renee having permanent brain damage.  
In a bid to get her temperature down, Alexx orders an ice bath. The doctor was trying to physically lower Renee's body temperature. After they give her an ice bath, they retake her temperature, which had actually gone up half a degree.  
"This is not working. We have to try something else," Alexx tells the other nurses.  
When the blood tests came back, the results were no surprise. Renee's white blood cell count was off the charts high.  
Renee's body was fighting a raging infection.  
They still cannot isolate the source of the infection. Renee's respiration rate dropped fast. Alexx ordered an x-ray of Renee's chest cavity. The x-ray revealed some kind of fluid building up in her chest cavity.  
When Alexx orders a biopsy, the fluid pulled out of her chest cavity tested positive for pus. But where did it come from? Draining the fluid was needed to relieve the pressure around Renee's lungs. To do this, the nurse put a needle into Renee's chest and sucked out the fluid.  
By this time, Renee began showing counter-indicative symptoms. Not only was she sweating and was flush in color. She was also shivering and had chills.  
With all the metal in Renee, the doctors cannot give her an MRI to locate the infection. With Renee still not conscious, they have to get permission from Renee's medical proxy. That person being Horatio. This is a phone call that James is NOT looking forward to making. James needs to get her brother there.  
"Hello, Horatio. It's James. Renee is in the hospital again. She has a fever of 104.5 and is not conscious. They need your permission to do a CT scan to try to locate the infection."  
"Renee's chest cavity was full of pus. They already had to drain it. You need to get here as soon as possible. Why does she have to be so damn stubborn? She had to have been sick for a long time with an infection as bad as hers. She hid it so well."  
Horatio doesn't say anything but a two-word answer, "I understand."  
Horatio quickly arrives at the hospital. Running in, he asks for his sister's room. Getting out of the elevator, he runs into James in the hall. James had been pacing the hall the entire time.  
Renee still had a raging fever that was not responding to anything that the medical team tried. Alexx and the other doctors were at a loss as to what to do to break her fever.  
They try a cold IV drip, but that did not affect her fever. They even try to cool her blood in an attempt to lower her core body temp. Even that doesn't work. They can only look for a cause and treat her symptoms as they come. Her symptoms do come, and they come with a vengeance.  
In an attempt to buy them time to find the cause, Renee's doctors put her on a ventilator to help her breathe. Her high fever had gotten even higher. It was now 105.  
It was only a matter of time before her organs begin to fail. She was already vomiting. But she had eaten nothing, so she was vomiting up nothing. Renee's blood pressure and heart rate had already crashed twice. Alexx had already needed to shock Renee's heart to reset it. Her heart had already stopped twice.  
James and Horatio were always by her side through all of it. Whatever the cause of the infection was, it was doing massive damage to Renee's body.  
James and Horatio were at a loss. Renee never even hinted that anything was wrong. She was too strong for her own good. Renee was so stubborn she would never let anyone know that she was sick. Let alone that she was as sick as she was.  
James was alone with Renee, while Horatio was out in the hall talking to Alexx. Sitting with Renee, James was just holding her hand. As he kissed it gently, Renee started to twitch. What started out as a small twitch quickly turned into a full-on grand mal seizure.  
Seeing Renee shake so violently, just broke James. Quickly he ran out in the hall.  
"Doc, Horatio get in here its Renee. I think she is having a seizure," James yells at the two in the hall. Alexx rushes in and gives Renee a Phenobarbital injection to stop Renee's seizure.  
When her seizure stopped, her lungs were beginning to fail her. Her doctors needed to move her onto a respirator that would breathe for her.  
Her chest cavity was again full of pus. They needed to put in a chest tube that would automatically drain so this will not happen again.  
Not long after Renee's lungs stopped working, so did her kidneys. Her heart finally failed after nearly a month. When Renee's heart began to fail, Alexx put her on an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machine to not only breathe for her but to also pump the blood for her. She was already on a dialysis machine.  
The doctors know that Renee is fighting an infection, so they start her on a broad-spectrum antibiotic. When they identify the source of her infection, they can use a more targeted antibiotic.  
Renee's body does not respond to any of the antibiotics that the doctors try on her. Renee was on life support for months as her body fought a raging infection. They find out Renee has a drug-resistant bacterial infection. The bacterial infection had caused a pyothorax.  
James tells Horatio what Alexx had just told him.  
(H, Alexx just told me, "Renee must have been battling this bacterial infection since early March. That would be close to a month ago. I must have missed something. She hid it so well. Maybe if I had seen something and said something, Nae wouldn't be on life support now.")  
Hearing the guilt in James's voice, Horatio tries to reassure him.  
"Nae has a drug-resistant bacterial infection. Even if you brought her in a month ago, she would still be right where she is now. You can't blame yourself. Nae's body is so strong the only way any bacteria has a chance at gaining a foothold would be if it were drug-resistant. I don't blame you, and I know Nae wouldn't blame you for any of it."  
James and Horatio just sit in Renee's room day after day, week after week, month after month. Over time Horatio began to give up. He loved his sister very much but couldn't see her not getting better. She had fought off the bacterial infection three months before. His sister's organs were not bouncing back. Renee still needed machines to not only breathe for her but also pump her blood through her body.  
Seeing his sister like that just killed him. He felt like he had failed her somehow. Deep inside of him, he knew it wasn't his fault, but he still blamed himself. Slowly he started to spend less and less time at the hospital. Horatio just couldn't sit there watching a machine keep his sister alive. He was being torn up since he also couldn't get himself to pull the plug on her.  
After three months watching his sister lying there on life support, Horatio signed over being her medical proxy over to James. He just couldn't do it anymore. It was now up to James to keep fighting a seemingly endless battle for his sister's life.  
Before he left the hospital after signing the paperwork, he says something to James as he leaves.  
"I will not blame you nor resent you if you choose to end it. Just think would Nae want to be kept alive by machines. If you do choose to end it, call me. I'll be here in an instant. You are not alone in this. I just can't stay here watching her fight a losing battle."  
James stayed with Renee. He had Horatio watch Piper during the following month. He knew Horatio was right about what Renee would want. He knew Renee had too much pride to be kept alive by machines.  
By now Renee had been on life support for four months, James finally makes the hardest decision of his life. He had to call Horatio and decide together.  
"H, its James. I think its time. This is not the future that I had planned on with Renee. But, I know you are right. She would not want to be kept alive by machines. I am just going to call her friend Shorty. They had been friends since Preschool. I already called him when she was first put on life support. I know that she would want him to know."  
Hanging up on Horatio, James calls Shorty.  
"Hey, Shorty. It's James. Yah, Renee is still on life support. Her brother and I both agree its time. I know Renee would want you there. She loved you and always talked about you like a brother. We both know that Nae is too proud to be kept alive by machines. We are planning it in a few days. So if you want to be here, I'll fly you in." James waits for a response from Shorty.  
"Oh, my God. I knew she was on life support, but I didn't realize it was as bad as it is. I'll be on the next flight to Miami," Shorty finally managed to talk after several minutes, trying to catch his breath. Hearing the news had knocked the wind out of him.  
Shorty needed to call his team of bullfighters into his room. He was supposed to be at a PBR event. Shorty needed someone to cover for him. Calling all four of the other fighters into his room, he talked to the group. He knew that the team was all fond of Renee after meeting her in Las Vegas.  
"Hey, guys. I just got some terrible news. You all remember Renee. Four months ago, she had a drug-resistant bacterial infection. They put her on life support to help her body fight it off. Well, she fought off the infection three months ago. She is still on life support. The doctors, Horatio, and Renee's boyfriend James all agree its time. I have to be there for her. Can one of you cover for me at the PBR event."  
None of the other fighters could believe the news.  
"Of course, we got you covered," Frank Newsom stands up and gives Shorty a tight, supportive hug. The other fighters follow suit. By this time, Shorty was ugly crying.  
"James, I just got in from Nashville. I'll take a taxi to the hospital so you will not have to leave her," Shorty talks to his friend.  
With the four most important people in Renee's life in the room, her doctors prepare her to be taken off of life support. Removing Renee's intubation, Alexx turned off the sound of Renee's heart monitor she knew that they don't need to hear Renee's heart flatlining.  
Making eye contact with James, who nods to her. As of now, Renee was free from all the other machines and IV lines. Pumping the blood back into Renee, they then turn off the extracorporeal oxygenation machine. This is after they turn off the dialysis machine. The room goes silent.  
After three minutes, Shorty leaves the room to pace the hall. Alexx leads Piper out after Shorty. Piper didn't need to stay there.  
This left James and Horatio in the room with Renee's body. Getting up from his chair on the far side of her room, James approaches Renee's bed.  
Once at the edge of the bed, he asks Horatio a strange question.  
"H, can you help me, I just want to feel her head on my chest one last time. I just need to get her on her stomach. Make sure her left arm is out from under her. I know she's dead, but I still want her to be comfortable too."  
He then gently starts to move Renee over with Horatio's help. Getting her on her stomach, James lays down on the bed with Renee. Resting Renee's left cheek on his chest, James holds her tight. Using his right arm, which was free, James gets Renee's finger's intertwined with his fingers as he holds her hand palm to palm.  
After a few minutes of holding Renee, James gets startled. He's very excited about what he felt.  
"I know it's impossible, but Renee just squeezed my hand twice. I swear. Come here," James tells a confused Horatio.  
Horatio doesn't believe James but goes up to the bed anyways. He took Renee's left hand in his. What he feels he couldn't believe. He feels a tiny, barely noticeable squeeze. Horatio just stands there. He feels it again and again.  
"That's it, baby, fight. You can do this, Sweetheart. Come on, Sweetie. Come back to us," both Horatio and James were telling the most important person in their connected lives.  
Again, Renee squeezed their hands.  
"Come on, Sweetheart. Come on. You can do it," they again beg Renee.  
Renee squeezes their hands for the fourth time, only this time it was a little bit harder. Neither wanted to let go for fear they were making it up. Without letting go of his sister's hand, Horatio reaches over the bed to turn on Renee's heart monitor.  
"Look, there it is," Horatio whispers to James as he points to a tiny blip on her heart monitor. "There it is again," James points out another blip, then another and another. It was getting stronger and stronger.  
Not being willing to let go of his girlfriend's hand for fear that she would slip away again. James reaches for the nurse call button and presses it.  
By this time, Renee's heart rate was getting stronger and stronger by the second. It was almost normal. Renee was also breathing on her own. Quietly a nurse walks in to see Renee's heart monitor silently going up and down.  
"Alexx, I can't explain it, but it's Renee. She's alive," the nurse shouts down the hall to Alexx and Piper.  
"What, did I hear that right, Nae's alive," Shorty asks Alexx. Alexx just nods yes.  
This causes Alexx, Shorty, and Piper to come running back in the room. When Alexx comes in, James could swear that Renee was struggling to open her eyes.  
"Come on, baby. You can do it, come on. Open your eyes, Sweetheart," James says as he encourages his girlfriend to wake up.  
Slowly, to everyone's amazement, Renee opens her eyes. With her intubation already removed when they had taken her off of life support, Renee attempts to talk.  
"Don't talk, just let me do a neurological check, as well as check your throat to see if it is okay to talk," Alexx says to an exhausted Renee.  
Alexx can't explain how but Renee was clearing all the tests. Alexx tells Renee that she can try to talk.  
"I feel better, Honey," were the first words that Renee speaks in four months. She whispers her first words since her throat was a little sore. Renee very quickly falls back to sleep, resting her head on James's chest. This was her safe place.  
Renee slept the first couple of days after she woke up. After a while, she wanted everyone in her room. She wanted to talk to everyone. Renee asked Horatio, James, Piper, Charlie, Echo, Eric, Calleigh, Ryan, Natalia, Walter, Frank, and Shorty into the room.  
No one had any idea why she would want everyone at the same time. She really wanted to talk about the place between this world and the next. Renee had spent four months between life and death.  
First, she talked about what she went through and saw from where she was. "It was beautiful. There were a lot of people up there. They took me to heaven. I only recognized two people, but the rest of them knew you all. I recognized Mac and my mom. The others had to introduce themselves to me."  
"There was Raymond, Marisol, and your mom Horatio. Then I met Tim, John, and Jessie. I even got to see Atlas and Delta again.  
Everyone wanted me to stay there with them. I didn't want to stay. I even told them that.  
"They need me here on earth," I told them repeatedly.  
They just responded with, "People on earth will live without you. You deserve to be happy and at peace. If you can convince us that everyone really does need you here, you can go back."  
Through visions, I got to see everyone if I died. One by one, she talked to the people in her room.  
"Charlie was the first to go to heaven if I did die. She just gave up on life and died of a broken heart," as Renee calls up her retired Marine canine.  
"Horatio, you ended up in heaven after you get shot and killed by a murder suspect," Renee addresses her brother. I saw you stay with James for a long time. I really wanted to give you all a sign that I was still there, but they wouldn't let me.  
"Echo, you were next Sweetie, you took a bullet protecting Eric," Renee tells her MDPD canine.  
"Shorty, you went to heaven when you were at a PBR event. Your head was not in the game, so to speak. A bull hits you, sending you flying. The bull then lands on top of you, causing a catastrophic chest injury killing you instantly," Renee addresses her best friend since Preschool.  
"Eric and everyone else goes to heaven when you breach a murder suspect's location, and he blows himself up," Renee says, addressing Horatio's team.  
"James, you shoot yourself after you find Piper overdosed on Heroin," Renee tells a very attentive boyfriend.  
"Piper, Sweetie, you are what finally convinced them that everyone needs me. You overdose on a very deadly drug. You were sixteen," Renee says as she pulls Piper close to give the girl a hug.  
They said that your team would have breached the property, whether I died or not. Even though the suspect you were arresting was the murderer of Horatio. You would never be after him if Horatio hadn't been killed by him.  
They also said that Horatio would have tried to arrest the murder suspect, whether I died or not. But we all know if Horatio was thinking clearly, he would never have gone alone.  
I saw you tend to me, James. I saw you brush my hair. I watched as you talked to me. You were doing everything that the doctors would let you do. It broke my heart.  
I was finally allowed to come back, but you pulled the plug. I was trying so hard to get back. I could see your heart was breaking. I can't be mad at you since you didn't want to do it, you were thinking about what I would want. I need you all to know that as long as you have hope never, and I mean never give up. I should have died more than twenty times, but here I am.  
James flash-back ends. Again he looks down at Renee, sleeping peacefully in his arms. He tells himself that he needs to tell Renee something in the morning.


	8. Chapter 8 Marine Ball

The following morning, James just waits for Renee to wake up on her own. Since her suicide attempt, Renee has settled down into a comfortable routine.  
Every morning, She and James would have breakfast at home. Then they would gather up their surfboards and head to Renee's favorite surf spot. After about three hours, they would go home. Renee would then take a nap on James's chest.  
When she wakes from her hour-long cat nap, they would go downstairs into Renee's indoor shooting range and have some fun with her firearms.  
James still wanted to tell Renee something, so he pulls her to the side in the shooting range.  
"You don't owe me a plus one. You don't have to come with me. I was invited to attend the Marine Ball on November 10. It is only the beginning of October, so you do have time to decide. I have to fly to Camp Lejeune the day before to get some paperwork done. I will be turning in my retirement papers into HQ. I would love for you to come. It's just that since I am the higher ranking of us, I will need to go in my dress uniform. If you come, you need to wear a dress. The last time you wore a dress didn't quite work out."  
Renee's response was surprising to James. I would love to go. I always keep my promises if I can help it. Besides, I really doubt anyone would be stupid enough to attack a building full to the  
rafters with U.S. Marines. We all know that once you are a Marine, you will always be a Marine," was how Renee responded to James' question.  
"You don't have to, baby," James wanted to make sure that Renee was sure about it.  
"No, Honey, I want to go. You have done more for me than anyone has ever done. This is the least that I can do," Renee makes sure that James knew that this is what she wants.  
"I'll just take Charlie as my PTSD service dog," Renee tells James when she sees the concern in her boyfriend's eyes.  
"Ok, I will make the flight arrangements right away. He secretly was hoping that Renee would say yes. He had something that he wanted to ask her. He was planning it for months. He was not sure that it would work since he was not sure that she would survive her bacterial infection that she had months before. He really did lose her for a while.  
The morning of their departure came up very quickly. Flying into Albert J. Ellis Airport, James whisked Renee off to their hotel. He had managed to get reservations at a very fancy hotel for the Marine Ball. Walking into the hotel, Charlie walked right at Renee's right hip.  
That dog would follow Renee to hell and back. Both Renee and James knew that Charlie would lay down her life in an instant to protect Renee. James was very thankful for the canine. Charlie had managed to sense more than a dozen impending PTSD episodes.  
Successfully redirecting Renee's attention onto the canine and off of the triggering incident.  
James was walking on Renee's left side, and Charlie was on her right. James knew that Renee was safe as long as Charlie was with her.  
Renee had been working on retraining Echo to sense the impending PTSD episodes. So far, her canine partner is alerting to about half of them.  
When James called the base to make an appointment to drop off his papers, he told the CO that he needs to be home for his girlfriend, who was also a Marine. She was suffering from PTSD.  
Once at the appointment, James casually mentioned that his girlfriend was, "Renee Hope Kerrigan." When the CO heard that, he told James to bring Renee in.  
The CO had some paperwork for her. He needed to give Staff Sergeant Kerrigan an envelope. Quietly James walks out into the hall and motions to Renee to come in. Renee walks up to the door with Charlie by her side.  
"Staff Sergeant Kerrigan, I have been authorized to give you this envelope. We do hope that you will take us up on the offer. It is complete with a promotion and retroactive payment," The CO then hands Renee a large manilla envelope.  
Quickly Renee opens the envelope. What she read brought her close to tears. Inside was a military contract offer.  
The Marines wanted her to train their dogs but will not ever send her overseas. They were even offering her a promotion to the rank that she would be if she didn't have that price on her head. She would be the same rank as James. As of now, Renee was a retired Master Sergeant with the United States Marine Corps.  
They would even pay her everything she would have got if she stayed the whole time. They really wanted her back since she was the best dog trainer that they had in decades.  
The offer even included training their Marine Color Guard Horses. This was an offer that Renee couldn't say no to. Now she would be able to be in charge of the dogs. I will tell the military where to send the dogs. As well as who my canines would work with and what would happen to the dogs upon retirement.  
Renee was now free to use whatever breed of dog she wanted, and whatever breed of horse she wanted too. She was always partial to going to the animal shelter and adopting dogs that have the makings of a working dog. Renee is able to bring out the best in any dog. This offer would bring Renee back into the world of BLM horse auctions since her preferred breed of horse was the  
American Mustang. She could go to the horse auctions and purchase yearlings or two-year-olds and train them for military work or law enforcement work.  
Leaving the meeting, both Marines had what they really wanted. Well, actually, James was with who he really wanted to be with.  
Over the last eighteen months, Renee had become one of the most important people in James's life. Renee and Piper were his world. Luckily Piper adores Renee and the other way around. He was planning a surprise for Renee at the Marine Birthday Ball. James had finally worked up enough courage to ask her when Piper told him something.  
"I want Renee and her dogs to be family. I really love her, and I know she loves me very much." James took that as permission. He already knew that he loves Renee and needs her in his life.  
Later that night was the ball. Back at the hotel, Renee was busy getting ready. She never wears makeup, so she gets ready faster than James was expecting. Renee walks out of the bathroom in a floor-length Royal Blue Chiffon dress. It looked like it was made for her. Renee was very proud of her black high heels, so she points them out to James. The three of them walk to the elevator.  
Getting out at the lobby, James leads Renee and Charlie out to a waiting taxi. They were headed back to the base that they were at earlier in the day. Walking into the ballroom, James grabs the announcer's attention.  
"How should I introduce you two, I mean three." He changed what he said when he saw Charlie.  
"Master Sergeant James O'Shea with retired Master Sergeant Renee Hope Kerrigan and her retired military canine Charlie," James says, winking at Renee.  
When the announcer hears that he comments, "I thought that you looked familiar," as he gives the canine a nose scratch.  
"I was one of the sleeping soldiers in the barracks when the suicide bomber attacked the base. You two are the reason I am here." The announcer says to a slightly confused Renee.  
When the announcer introduced them, the three of them make their way down the receiving line to met the people who were there to greet everyone. Charlie was a perfect canine, quietly lying down under the table and not moving the whole night.  
It was a very serious event, with a moment of silence for the Marines that never made it home. There was even a table that was set, but no one sat at. It was for the missing soldiers.  
The cake ceremony was Renee's favorite part. Everyone got a slice of the delicious chocolate cake with white frosting. When the dinner was offered, they even brought Charlie a small piece of steak. Renee and James enjoyed the food very much.  
Before they danced and after dinner, James led Renee to a side room. With her back to him, she never saw him kneel down. Not until she heard a quiet gasp of people who saw it. They knew what was happening before Renee did.  
Turning around, Renee was greeted with her boyfriend down on one knee. Seeing James like that, she knew what was happening before he asked.  
"These last eighteen months have been a roller coaster of emotions. I nearly lost you more than once. Fearing I would lose you, made me realize that I can't live without you. You showed me that the parts of me I thought died when Mac did, was alive and well. You make me happy in ways that I thought only she ever could. Will you make me the happiest man in the world? Will you marry me?"  
With tears in her eyes, Renee answers his question.  
"Yes, I'll marry you. How long have you planned this?" She asks the last part when she hugged him tightly. She whispers the last question in his ears.  
"Since you were willing to sacrifice your life to save mine. When we were carjacked, I realized that you had done that for me a lot. Every time you earned a medal for courage and bravery, I would have been among the body count if you didn't. You resisted torture when you didn't give me up."  
They then walk back into the party. Walking back in, they were greeted by a large group of people who had seen it all. There were lots of congratulations around. Renee was able to show off a beautiful engagement ring. It was beautiful, yet simple. James knew the kinds of jewelry that Renee likes to wear. It was a flat surface emerald cut diamond ring. There was nothing sticking out since Renee was very active, and James didn't want it to get snagged somewhere.  
After the ball, in the taxi back to the hotel, James makes a confession to his new fiancé. "I took one of your old rings to get the size right.  
The three Marines fly home the next day. Two of them were now recognized as military equals. James already thought of Renee as an equal, since they would have already been if she was not so damn good at her job. The Taliban had put a price on her head. Renee and her dogs always thwarted their attempts to hurt the base, and it's personnel.  
"I'm glad I came, Baby," Renee tells James as she leans against his shoulder.  
"Me too. I would have hated to be at the ball alone. Besides, I had planned on proposing to you for months. My proposal would have to be replanned if you didn't come with me. I'm glad Charlie was there. I owe you both my life on more than one occasion."  
When they arrived at the Miami-Dade International Airport, they were greeted by Piper, Horatio, and Echo. The police canine was obviously excited to be reunited with both Charlie and Renee.  
As the dog jumped around them, Piper ran up to her dad and threw her arms around his neck. She kissed him on the cheek.  
Piper then turns her attention to Renee. While giving Renee a tight hug, she whispered something in Renee's ears. So quietly that only Renee could hear.  
"I already know that dad proposed to you. I saw the ring months ago. He thought that he hid it so well, but he didn't. I am more than happy with it. You have always treated me like a daughter. You never pushed yourself on me, and for that, I am grateful. Horatio is simply clueless since I never told him."  
Renee just grins at the girl as Piper lets go of Renee's neck. Piper then hugs her buddy Charlie around her neck. Piper and Charlie had become inseparable by this time. Having Piper around has given the old dog a new lease on life. A new reason to live.  
The retired Marine canine would follow Piper wherever she would go like a shadow. The dog only left the girl when she sensed an impending PTSD episode from Renee. Nothing would stop Charlie from redirecting Renee's attention off of a triggering event and back onto the dog, effectively stopping every possible event when she was around. Echo was still learning how to do it.  
Renee and James wanted to tell everyone at one time. She asked her brother to bring the team to an interview room at the lab.  
Renee was eager to tell them, so they went straight to the lab with their bags.  
"We are sure that you all are wondering why exactly we had you all come in this room. Well, we have an announcement to make."  
Now that they had everyone's attention, the pair tell the team the good news.  
"Well, James proposed to me at the Marine Ball. I, of course, said yes," Renee was barely able to tell the team.  
"I also got some surprising news while I was there. The Marine's offered me a military contract. They want me to train their canines. I will tell them where the dogs go, who works with them. As well as what happens to the dogs upon retirement."  
"I can even choose the breed of dog I use. The offer includes training their mounted color guard horse of a breed of my choice."  
"That's not even the best news. I was given a promotion to the rank I would be at if I never left with a pay bump and retroactive payment. I am now a retired Master Sergeant with the United States Marines."  
Renee was very excited to tell the others about the news of her promotion. Looking over at her brother, Renee could tell that he already knew about the engagement. She instantly knew that James had asked for Horatio's blessing.  
Now Renee and James have a wedding to plan for. They have to work hard if they want a military wedding. Since both Renee and James are Marines, they wanted a military wedding. Renee had a lot to figure out.  
Pulling Calleigh to the side, Renee asks the CSI team member a question.  
"Calleigh, will you be my maid of honor. You are the closest friend I have?"  
"Of course, this is going to be fun," Calleigh never hesitated when she answered Renee's question.


	9. Chapter 9 Bad News, Good News

Getting back from the Marine Ball, Renee finds a box at her door. Looking at the return label, then who it was sent to, Renee's heart sank.

Picking up the box, Renee and James walk into the house. Once inside, James sees tears forming in the creases of Renee's eyes.

"What's wrong, Sweetheart? Are you okay?" James asks his new fiancé.

"I don't know. I'm afraid to open the box," Renee replies.

James had been looking through her mail when he came across a large Manila envelope from a lawyer.

"Sweetie, this might explain it. Do you want me to open it? I can read it then tell you what it says," James offers Renee a helping hand.

Renee looks up at James. He could see relief hit Renee.

Slowly James opens the envelope and reads what it said to himself. After a few minutes, James starts to read it to Renee.

"We regret to inform you, but General Sydney Parker passed away in his sleep. We sent you a box of his possessions. Please call us we have a very important item to discuss regarding General Parker's last will and testament," James finishes reading the letter and looks at Renee.

He can clearly see the grief in Renee's eyes.

"Baby, I'm so sorry. I know how much the General meant to you," James says as he holds Renee close.

With her hands still shaking, Renee asks James to open the box for her. Opening the box, he quietly inspects the items inside the cardboard box.

Renee gathers her strength and goes to stand next to James. She needed to see what was in the box. Renee thought of Sydney as a fatherly figure.

There in the box were the rest of the one-star General's medals. Renee knew that he wanted to give the medals to Piper so she would be able to remember her grandpa. There was only one other item in the box.

In tears, Renee gently pulls out a folded up flag. The flag was inside a beautiful display box. At the bottom was a simple engraved plate.

"Sydney Parker, US Marine General"  
"World War II, Vietnam War, Korean War"  
"Awarded a Bronze Star, a Distinguished Service Medal, and an Army and Marine Corps Medal"  
"April 08, 1925- November 10, 2020"

Renee placed the folded up flag on the mantle of her fireplace. Renee quietly asked James a question.

"Do you think that Piper would mind if I kept one of the medals for myself? I wanted to keep the bronze star. She already has one of those. One of the Rear Admiral's gave her one last Christmas."

"No, of course, she won't mind. She knows how much you love Sydney," James reassures Renee.

"Will you tell Piper when she gets back from school. She loves Sydney too," Renee begs him to be the one to tell his daughter that General Parker died.

"I'll tell Piper about Sydney when she gets home from school," James tells Renee consolingly.

About that time, the front door goes flying open as Piper runs inside laughing. When Piper sees the two of them standing in front of the kitchen island, she knows something is wrong. She can clearly see that Renee had been crying.

"Piper, Sweetheart, come sit down with us. We just got some bad news," James tells his teenage daughter.

Without saying anything, Piper sits down on the leather sectional couch. The girl was sure that she knew what it was about.

"We just found out the Sydney died in his sleep. I'm so sorry, Sweetie. He did leave you a few things," James tells his daughter as he hands her two small wooden boxes.

Piper knew what was in them without opening.

Quietly she took the Medals out and tucked them into the display box her dad had built for her. She gently placed the box back on the mantle.

"He was just so sweet to me," Piper quietly told her dad and Renee.

"Darling, you need to call the lawyer about Sydney's will. Why don't you call them on speakerphone, so Piper and I can be there to support you through this," James gently tells Renee.

Without saying anything, James sees Renee nod, yes.

He then pulls his phone out and dials the lawyer's number. James turns the speakerphone on and hands it to Renee.

"Robin Maverick, Attorney at Law. How may we help you?" The voice on the other end says.

"Hello, I just got a letter telling me to call you about General Sydney Parker's will. I guess I'm just a little confused. As far as I knew, he didn't have anything," Renee responds to the woman's question in a quiet and shaky voice.

"Oh Darling, can you come into the office? We need to go over his will. He did leave some things in his estate," the lady's answers Renee question.  
Renee was not able to speak, so James talks for his fiancé, "I'm Renee's fiancé, we can come in anytime that works for you."

"Can you come to the office in two hours? That will give us time to get all the paperwork and everything we need," the lady says to the three of them.

Renee says, "We will be there." She is finally able to say anything.

Two hours later, the three of them pull up to the lawyers in James's red F-150 truck. As they get to the front door, James pulls it open and holds the door for his daughter and his fiancé.

Once in the office, the lawyer pulls out a large folder. Placing it on the table, the lawyer can clearly see the confusion in Renee's face.

"The retirement home sent you his possessions that he had at the VA house. He did have a rather sizable estate. He also left keys to several safety deposit boxes at several different banks all across the city. He put your name down as co-owner of the boxes. We need to give you the keys to the boxes as well as the locations of the banks he used. He also owned several houses in New Orleans and here in Miami. Sydney was very private and never talked about money," the lawyer finished talking to a confused Renee.

The lawyer then handed Renee five deposit box key envelopes and a print out listing five different banks that Sydney had boxes at.

Getting up to leave the room, the lawyer turns to talk to Renee one more time.

"If you have any further questions regarding the estate, please don't hesitate to call us," she says as she walks out of the room.

Looking over at Renee, James could clearly see she was shaking. Seeing that, James wordlessly gathers the envelopes and puts them in his pocket.

He then slowly and gently reaches for Renee to hug her. His fiancé was on the verge of tears again by this point.

"I've known him for twenty years, and I didn't know any of that," Renee tells James between the sobs.

"This way Sweetie," he tells Renee as he leads her out of the office.  
Getting to the first bank, James looks at Renee before he asks her a question.

"Baby, are you sure you are ready for this?" He asks very lovingly.

"I can do this. Pull yourself together," Renee tells herself out loud.

Without another word, Renee opens the door and gets out. James is right behind her. Piper brings up the rear of the group of three.

Walking up to the first available banker James pulls out the envelope for the bank's deposit box. Giving the envelope to the banker, Renee pulls herself together long enough for her to tell the banker what happened and what she wanted.

"My friend died and left me these keys. The lawyer told me that my name was on the list of people who can access the box," is what she says to the banker in nothing but then a whisper.

The banker took pity on Renee and changed his mannerisms to a more sensitive tone.

"Let's see what I can do for you, Sweetie," is what the banker says as he bustles off to get the box log-in sheet.

He quickly returns with a sign-in book and tears in his eyes.

"Sweetie, I didn't realize that its Sydney's box. He was a great man, from what I knew about him. He would come in every month to put something in the box or take something out of it. You must be Nae. He talked about you all the time. He thought of you as the daughter that he never had," the banker says as he leads the three of them into the vault.

He then leads the three into a private room to look in the box. Sydney's box was a very large one. Slowly Renee opens the box, not knowing what was inside.

In the box, Renee found more than she expected to find.  
Several World War II war bonds, World War II savings bonds, keys to a storage unit close by, as well as his US Marine issued 1911 Colt sidearm. Is what was in this box. James carefully put the contents of the box in the bag that the bank had given them. Reaching for the 1911, Renee stops him.

"Let me take this one," as she gently straps the firearm and holster to her right hip. Sydney was a righty, so the holster was made to sit on the right hip. If Renee put it on her left hip, it would be facing the opposite direction.

The three of them then head off to check out the storage unit. Sydney had them running all over the city. As James unlocks the large outdoor storage unit, no one was ready to see what was inside. In the middle was a mint condition 1964 candy apple corvette convertible. Without skipping a beat, Renee gets Piper's attention when Renee grabs the keys from a hook on the wall.

"Piper, It's your's Sweetie. I mean when you turn sixteen, of course. I'll help you get her running," Renee says as she tosses the teen the keys.  
Piper's eyes widened larger than the Corvette's hubcaps. "Really," she screams as she looks at her dad.

"It's fine with me if you are sure, Renee?" He questions Renee if that is what she really wants.

"I have a mint condition 1966 Cherry-red Mustang Convertible that my mom left me when she died down in New Orleans. I could have  
it shipped here if I wanted. Besides, it's what Sydney would have wanted," Renee reassures James and Piper that this was her final decision.

Further, in the storage container, Renee and James are left in complete shock. When they find an arsenal of weapons, most of which were military issue or Vietnam War age.

Among what they found was: a Gatling gun, a flamethrower, a military Willie Jeep in pieces, several M1C Garands, M1 Carbines, M14 rifles, M16 rifles, Winchester Model 1912 shotguns, M26 fragmenting grenades, M40 rifles, Sten Submachine guns, M1903A4 Springfield rifles, Browning M1917A1 Heavy Machine Gun's, M3 fighting knives, and a German-made Walther P38. Both Renee and James knew that some of these weapons dated back to World War II. They also knew that some of these were illegal to own. During the cover of night, Renee and James agreed to return and move the weapons to Renee's hidden underground weapons vault she had at home.

Getting Piper's attention, the three of them closed the container and locked it. Piper didn't go in the back of the container. She had spent that time checking out her "new" car. The teen couldn't have been happier.

The three then went to the next bank that the lawyer had listed. The second safety deposit box that they had keys too. By now, Renee had processed the death enough for her to do the talking. The last time James had done all the talking.

Again the banker was very supportive to Renee. This banker too, recognized the other name on the sign-in sheet. Again the banker offered their condolences. The banker then led the three of them into a private room to look in the box. Before the banker left, he handed James a bag so that they could take what they wanted.

When Renee opens it up, she can't say anything to James. She just looks at him with a blank stare in her eyes. Being unable to read Renee, James goes up behind Renee to see what his fiancé sees. Again he is speechless. Finally, Piper couldn't stand not knowing what was inside, so she walks around to be in front of Renee and James. Piper is the one who broke the heavy silence.

"Holy Cow, that's a lot of money, daddy. Isn't that a lot of money," she virtually shouts to her dad. Piper's shouts snapped James out of his shock.

"Yes, Sweetie, that is definitely a lot of money," James tells Piper as he tries to snap Renee out of her total daze.

"Nae, Baby, Snap out of it, Sweetheart," he tries to get her attention before he attempts to grab her. James didn't want to cause a PTS episode.

Renee does manage to snap herself out of it when Piper steps between her field of view and the box.

"I'm sorry, Sweetie. Yes, that is a lot of money. We should probably count how much it is. I'll put it all into a college account for you. I  
will pay for Sydney's funeral myself," Renee tells a surprised Piper and James.

As they all counted the money, they all came back with the same number. Sydney had stuffed $612,500 into this box alone. They all really wanted to go check out the other three boxes that Sydney had if he put the same amount of money in each of the boxes that $2,450,000. If you add the bonds to the total, it is probably another $50,000 at least.

"I don't think Sydney ever spent any of his money. This is literally his life savings. I don't know what to do with this much money. With Piper's grades, she will probably get a scholarship to any college. I do want to make sure that she can afford to go to any college regardless of a scholarship or money. I'm going to pay off my mortgage. Maybe I'll build a state-of-the-art dog and horse training facility away from here but nearby. This box alone would be more than enough to pay off my mortgage," Renee is getting really excited by now.

Taking a deep breath, Renee puts the money back into the box, only keeping one package of cash. She wanted to pay off the storage unit for a long time.

On the way to the next bank, Renee stopped back at the storage unit to give the owner some money. When Renee tossed the bundle of cash on the counter, the owner was surprised, to say the least.

"That is enough money to just buy the unit from me. You wouldn't need to keep paying month to month. You will also be able to come and go as you please," the owner tells Renee.

"Agreed, I'll buy the unit if that works for you, "was what Renee says in response to the owner of the storage property.

Renee had called it. Opening the next three boxes, they find exactly $612,500 in each deposit box. They leave the money in the boxes after counting it all.

Getting home, the three of them had a lot to think about. Renee was really thinking about what to do with all that money. One thing is for sure, the following morning, Renee is taking James and Piper to visit the other three vets at the VA home. She wanted to make sure that they knew how much she loved them. Renee also wanted to ask the Lieutenant Colonel a question.

The next morning dawned very peacefully. Renee had fallen asleep being held by James. It was Renee's turn to cook the three of them breakfast that particular Saturday.

James hated to wake her up since Renee did have a tough day yesterday. Not wanting to wake her up, James slides his arm out from under Renee. Tiptoeing to the door, he snuck downstairs to make breakfast.

He knew what he was planning on making for breakfast for a Saturday morning. Pulling out a box of Café Dumont Beignet mix, James starts to make the delicious French pastry.

James knew that the aroma alone would wake Renee up from the deepest sleep. He knew that his daughter just loved Beignets too. These women are the most important people in his life. He would do absolutely anything for either of them.

Just as he thought, halfway through making breakfast, Renee and Piper sleepily walk into the kitchen. Both of them were following the aroma.

As he places the tray with the fresh Beignets on the counter, James needed to remind both Piper and Renee not to inhale while they eat. If they did, they would inhale powdered sugar, and that is no fun.

"Don't inhale or you'll inhale the sugar and start a coughing fit," James says in a slightly scolding tone.

"We won't," both Renee and Piper say in unison.

They promptly proceed to inhale while they eat. That caused them both to start coughing fits.

As he throws his arms up in the air, "Why do I even bother to warn you guys, you never listen," exclaims an exasperated James as he throws his arms up in the air. James then starts to laugh. He was incapable of staying mad at either Renee or Piper.

After breakfast, the three of them are busy getting ready to go visit the three other vets over at the VA home. Renee loads Charlie and Echo into the truck with Piper and James.

All of the vets loved it when Charlie went to the home. She brought great comfort to a lot of them. Since she was also a veteran, they found comfort in her calm temper. She wore her vest with her medals she earned both officially and unofficially. Officially she was awarded five, Lois Pope Medal, for Courage. Unofficially she was awarded a bronze star and five Purple Hearts.

The five of them then walk into the VA house to visit their friends. Quietly Renee walks up to the receptionist to ask about her friends.

"Can you tell us where Lieutenant Colonel William Kingston, Rear Admiral Clayton Webster, and Rear Admiral Patrick Barnett are?" Renee asks the receptionist quietly.

"I don't know offhand, but they are probably in the game room. You can all go back and find them if you want. We all know who you are, Renee," the receptionist kindly answers Renee's question.

The three people and two dogs then walk back to find their friends. Sure enough, they locate the vets in the game room. The Rear Admirals were engrossed in an intense game of chess. The Lieutenant Colonel was giving them both bad advice since he was playing the winner.

Walking into the game room, Piper ran to surprise the Navy veterans. The Marine had seen the five of them come into the room. He was not going to ruin the girl's fun by telling the others about here coming their way.  
Charlie and Echo were both right behind Piper as she approached her "grandpas."

The Navel veterans didn't look up until Piper was right in front of them. Renee and James could see their faces light up when they saw Piper.

"What are you guys doing here? It's not Thanksgiving or Christmas yet, is it?" That was the first thing the vets told the visitors.

"We wanted to come and see you guys," was what the teen told her hero's.

"We take it that you heard about Sydney's passing," Clay asks Renee in a very sweet manner.

"Yes, I never told him how much I loved him, so I came here to tell you all in case you didn't already know that," was what Renee was barely able to talk to them.

"Sweetie, he knew, and we all know," the Lieutenant Colonel tells Renee as he reaches for her to hug her tight.

Renee really wanted to ask the Marine Lieutenant Colonel a personal question, so she pulled him over to a private corner of the room.

"Colonel, can I ask you a question? James proposed to me at the Marine Birthday Ball at Camp Lejune. I wanted to ask you if you would like to walk me down the aisle. I don't have a father, and you don't have a daughter. At least think about it," Renee finally gets her question out.

Renee didn't look at his face as she asked her question. If she did, she would have seen his face light up. The Marine vet had tears in his eyes as he answers the question.

"Of course, Sweetie. I would be honored. I'm so touched that you even thought of me. You deserve to be happy, and I know James makes you happy. If I didn't approve, I would not walk you down the aisle. He is a good man. Besides that, he has an amazing daughter that we all adore," is what the Marine told Renee as they both fought back the tears.

"We all have a bet going on. The Admirals say you'll keep Sydneys car for yourself. I say you gave it to Piper. Who gets the money?" The Marine asks Renee.

Seeing the confusion on Renee's face, The Marine explains his question.

"We all know about each other's estates. That is one sweet ride. I was running great a few months ago when we drove it last."

"Oh, you get the money, I guess. I gave it to Piper, but she can't drive it until she turns sixteen years old," Renee answers the question as they look at the rest of their group.

Winking at the Marine vet, Renee asks Piper a question.

"Piper, Sweetie, why don't you tell your grandpa's what you just got?" Renee asks the teen.

Piper couldn't have been more excited.

Quickly she takes out the keys to the Corvette and shows the vets gathered around her.

Renee just chuckled out loud when she saw the disappointment in the two Rear Admiral's faces. They then hand the old Marine vet one hundred dollars each.

Renee and James then make the announcement to the two Navy Rear Admirals. Renee wanted them to know about the wedding since they were invited to attend.

There were a lot of congratulations around from all the vets in the room. By this time, they all knew and loved Renee.


End file.
